Gabriel Locket
by Forest Prince
Summary: This is the story of Gabriel Locket, the wizard boy born and raised in the muggle world of the u.s. Cut off from the broken wizard community, Gabriel tries to find a connection to his magical family line, only to discover that it is covered in darkness.
1. Birthday Boy

1. Birthday Boy

Gabriel Locket sped down the windy paved road lined with all sorts of trees in his sea foam green '69 VW Beetle. The soothing voice of Miike Snow swam through the air and out the windows into the crisp evening air of mid October as he sliced the bug with such ease around the tight corners of Horseshoe Bar Road. Deeper and deeper he carved his way into the still wild hills of Loomis, the small town just a few minutes north of Sacramento California. Gabriel must have driven down this road a thousand times, and though he probably drive it backwards with his eyes closed, there was something about the wild trees, the never-ending sky, the staring cows that made him feel like a trailblazer, discovering the road, paving the way for the rest of the world into the heart of Loomis.

The white house was dark and asleep when he pulled into the extended driveway of 9604 Drambuie Court. He lived with his father David Locket, and his two sisters, Alexus and Breanna, though the children would have been better off alone. The girls, they were twins, both ten, and would be eleven on May 29th, but today was Gabriel's birthday, had been Gabriel's birthday, October eleventh. Eighteen years old, thank you very much, quite a big deal. The celebration, if you would care to call it a celebration, had already came and gone. His half drunk father got enough Chinese food for himself, apparently forgetting he had three mouths to feed, and Gabriel had to scrape the bottom of the fridge to get something for his sisters to eat.

Being eighteen, his dad thought he should get his son something special, so last minute mind you, he ran out to the local drug store and got an iTunes gift card worth fifteen dollars for Gabriel. His poor sisters, embarrassed and ashamed, made him a card from some old construction paper, and each wrote him a beautiful note. They felt horrible for not getting him anything, but with their father either drunk or hung over all the time, they didn't exactly have the money or the transportation to go to the mall for him. From his mom, Gabriel got something special.

"Dear Gabe," the card from his mom read, she always called him Gabe,

"Oh how I miss you! You don't even understand. It's only been three months and I am bored out of my mind! Massachusetts is a drag, I don't care what you say, its a drag, beautiful yes, but a drag.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Happy birthday to YOU! Happy birthday to YOU! I know we celebrated before you left, but I couldn't resist. I saw this and HAD to get it. It called out to me, _GABRIEL! GABRIEL!_ I hope you just love it.

I know things are tough there, trust me I know, but just try and bear it. Your father loves you! No matter how much you think otherwise he does.

I hope your day is just fantastic! I love you so much! Keep sending me letters, I need to keep sane. KISS KISS! Tell the girls I say hi and I Love them! I love you so much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

-Mom  
>P.S. Have some chocolate, it will make you feel better<em>. <em> 

He smiled at that last part. Gabriel stroked the long black, curling hair that hung in front of his face as he began to read the short note again, for the ninth time. With a large huff, he finished and starred at the black walls of his rather large bedroom. Poor Gabriel was shoved into the guest bedroom on the first floor, right next to the entry hall and the front door, while his dad sprawled out in the master bedroom and put his sisters in the room next to him.

He looked at the clock, _11:14. _His father fell asleep at eleven, so it was probably safe for him to open the brown package on his lap. He would never even think about opening it in front of his dad for several reasons, but he could now.

Delicately, he untied the brown cord that kept the black paper in place around the tiny package. He treated everything from his mother like it was gold. Pulling away the rope, and tearing away the paper, his heart fluttered in anticipation. His mother always got him the best stuff.

A small black box, with gold borders sat in his lap now. He pulled the lid off and peered inside. There, sitting on the soft black velvet, was a clear sapphire wrapped in a silver cord and attached to a long, silver chain. Slowly, he lifted it out and squinted into the rock. It was rough and jagged, old and beautiful like the moon. The clear stone was almost glowing in the darkness of the room, lighting up his black eyes, his pale face. His gaze fell down to the box. There was a small card in it that he didn't see before, pressed up against one of the walls. Pulling at the card, he picked it up and flipped it over. He had seen one of these before.  
>There was a picture of the rock on it, and a word underneath. <em>Motus<em>

He smiled widely, and shot up from his bed. Lunging for the door, me grabbed his black bathrobe and landed on both feet with a soft thud. At the door he came to a stop, and after a deep breath, slowly he pushed on the wood. It cracked open silently and he tip-toed into the dark hallway, watching the end of the stairs down at the far end of the house. He waited there for a moment, waiting for his dad to appear. But he didn't, and before he could conjure second thoughts, he was off.

He pulled on the gold handle of the front door, and it cracked open with an almost silent creak. With one foot, he slipped through the openeing, just wide enough to fit his six foot something body that was thinner than a piece of paper, and took off for the rocks.

Now Loomis was a small town, a farm town with lots of trees, grass, hills, wild animals, and big houses. Gabriel's house no exception. He lived in a small development of rather large homes called "Sterling Point". Nothing was ever overgrown in Sterling Point. Each house, each mansion was perfectly framed in trees and bushes and vines that separated the lots. They ranged anywhere from one acre, to seven. His house at 9604 Drambuie Court, sat in the middle of an achier and a half. A long, narrow driveway led up the front of the house and swung around to the back. On the left side of the driveway, when looking down it at the house, was a large lawn of grass and trees. And just beyond that was Gabriel's neighbor, and the last house on the street before the road ended. And on the other side of the driveway, the right side was a huge outcropping of rocks that made for beautiful scenery. What many people didn't know was that there was a flat clearing at the top of the rocks, the very highest point of the property.  
>Gabriel eyed the boulders, and took off toward them. He climbed around the back, where the land wasn't too steep to climb, and minute later was at the top. The outcropping hid the clearing at the top of the rocks from the house and the driveway and the road, a perfect place for secret things. Gabriel headed for the tall oak, sitting in the middle of the small clearing, the roots of the monster tree rippling through the earth below. Right at the base of the trunk, one of the roots had a large stone shoved up against it where Gabriel knelt down and placed the box at his side. He cleared away the dirt from the stone, like he had done a thousand times before, and pulled it away, like he had done a thousand times before.<br>A small hole in the ground, bordered by the roots of the tree, held home to Gabriel's most valuable and secret treasures, all accept for a ring that he wore on his third finger. Books, boxes, orbs, slates, and coins filled the space of the small hole. He looked over each one, remembering exactly when he got them from his mom. He knelt down, and gently, he pushed aside the books and boxes toward the back of the hole, and grabbed hold of a large long box. He pulled it out, careful not to turn it upside down or on its side, his heart began to pump, filling him with adrenaline, and trying to contain himself, he took a deep breath and slowly opened the box. He lifted away the ribbon to reveal a specially carved, sixteen inch, willow, wand.

It had a curved handle that was carved into the head of a horse at the end. Along the side of the handle were carvings and symbols, and the curve straitened out to a long, strait shaft and a point. He grabbed it by the handle, where the symbols were, so that the curve fit perfectly in his hand, and the horse's head rested around his pinkie finger.

For a moment, he simply watched it, and loved how it fit him perfectly. His mind wandered to when he turned eleven, only seven years ago to the day, the best and worst day of his life. The wand was excited to see him, happy it didn't have to wait in that box any longer.

Gabriel put the small black card on the ground, held the stone in his left hand and his wand in his right. He read over the card again, took a deep breath, focused hard on the clear stone, and muttered,

"_Motus." _

A light sparked in the stone as it rocked back and forth. Suddenly, it began to change colors. First black, then purple, yellow, blue, red, orange, white, green, and black again. Slowly, the black faded and once again it grew clear. Gabriel pulled the chain over his neck, and the stone rested perfectly at the heart of his chest. A color faded in. A blue green, vibrant with color and life. Gabriel smiled, and tried hard not to hold back laughter.

"Whooooooh whooh! Whooooooooooooh!" a small, black, barn owl cooed from a branch of the oak tree.

"Jasper," Gabriel whispered. The owl stretched open its dark wings, and hoped down, catching what wind he could till he landed on the large tree root.

"Coooooh," it swooned as Gabriel stroked his small head. He noticed the green stone and pecked at it.

"Its a Pith Pinch," he told Jasper, "it knows what I am feeling and what others are feeling too. It can tell me what your feeling."

The owl turned its head sideways, watching Gabriel with wide eyes. Gabriel put the stone up to his ear, and the stone turned a sort of yellow purple.

"You're curious," Gabriel told him. The owl shook his feathers in agreement. Suddenly, the rock turned black, and Gabriel's eyes opened wide. He stood up and turned toward the house.

"Dad's awake."

He bent down and placed his wand back in the box, and carefully put it back in the hole. He shoved the large rock in its place and covered the edges with dirt. Jasper hopped up the trunk of the tree and cooed softly.

"I got to go. I'll see you later boy," He whispered as he took off down the outcropping. Jasper watched him, his head cocked and eyes wide.

Gabriel bounded fiercely, but silently down the rocks to the large front door. He cracked it open and slipped past lunging for his door on his right. He shot a glance at the staircase, and a light turned on upstairs. He slipped into his room and pressed the door nearly shut, but left it open just enough to peer through. He watched silently through the crack as his dad, half asleep, stumbled down the steps still drunk from Gabriel's birthday, and tripped into the kitchen where Gabriel could no longer see him. He listened as David Locket opened the freezer, mumbled and groaned, and stumbled back into the hallway and up the stairs with an icepack on his forehead.

The light upstairs went off, and Gabriel listened for any movement. He lowed his gaze to the stone on his chest. It started to fade from black to blue. Then it cleared up completely. Gabriel sighed in relief. Exhausted, he stood and shuffled back to his bed in the middle of the large, but blank room.

He was afraid of his father. Gabriel was a powerful wizard, but his dad was a scary muggle. His parents got divorced when Gabriel was twelve when father found out that his mother was teaching him magic, a profession that she had neglected to tell her husband about. They were divorced a month later, and magic was banned from the house. But that didn't stop Gabriel. He practiced whenever he could, and when he lived with his mother during the summers, she caught him up on everything he would have learned from going to Cobblecot School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Cambridge Massachusetts, a place his father would never allow anyone to speak of. But Gabriel was a fast learner, and actually was learning things that were years ahead of him. So leaving his mom to come back to the dark world of Loomis was not exactly a happy thought for Gabriel.

He pulled his robe off and left it on the floor, jumped into bed, clasped the stone in his hand, closed his eyes, and dreamed of his mother, Rose.


	2. A Day at School

2. A Day at school

Gabriel woke up sweating. He didn't know why, but his heart was racing and his hands were shaking. The stone around his neck was swirling black and grey with color. After a moment, he calmed himself down. This wasn't the first time he woke up like this. Not the first time he had a nightmare he couldn't remember. The strangest part was that this only happened when he stayed with his dad during the school year. He turned to the clock. 6:53. He was going to be late.

Quickly he jumped out of bed and threw on his jeans and blue t-shirt and a pair of tennis shoes.

"We're going to be late," Alexus and Breanna said simultaneously as he rushed into the kitchen.

"Where is my back pack?" He said out of breath.

"On your back," Alexus huffed.

"Right."

"Here is a bagel," Breanna said handing him something warm and wrapped in a paper towel.

"Keys?"

"In your hand," Alexus huffed again.

"Alright, lets go," he said running back into the hallway and turning to the garage steps. He took a quick look up the stairs to the upstairs family room. "Is dad still asleep?"

"Yeah," they said together.

"Okay." He rushed down the steps and out the door. Alexus and Breanna were cute little girls. They had long, black, curly, hair, small noses, and black eyes. They were thin and graceful, like black swans, which made sense because they were both incredible ballerinas.

The three of them climbed into Gabriel's small '69, VW Bug. It had a blue air freshener in the windshield and only one bumper on the front. He had gotten it from his mom for his fourteenth birthday. She thought he looked perfect in it because it completed his beach boy look.

They made it to school by 7:27, and school didn't start for Gabriel till 7:45. He went to Rocklin High, about twenty minutes from his house. The girls went to Granite Oaks Middle School, and walked there from the High School. In the parking lot were the three sibling's cousins, Tyler Tombs and William Robinson, both Gabriel's age. Gabriel's mother, Rose, had two younger sisters, Heather and Ginger. Heather married Roy Robinson and Ginger married Jonathan Tombs. They all got married together in a huge, three couple wedding, then all moved to Loomis and raised their families. For a while.

When Gabriel's parents were still together, his mom and two aunts all worked together. Jonathan became the High School's vice principle, Roy the Activities Director and David, Gabriel's father, the Athletic Director. The three women would work at home, raising their young families, but often take rather secret business trips back east to Massachusetts where Gabriel's mom now lived. Their jobs were never talked about and never a big deal since they only left home four or five times a year, and when Roy once offered to take a job in Massachusetts so that Heather wouldn't have to fly east anymore and could be closer to work, she brutally refused him and told him to say nothing more of it. The three sisters were quiet about what they did, and it never seemed to be a topic of discussion.

Once Gabriel turned eleven, everything changed. His dad found out exactly what he had married and what he had spawned. The divorce happened quickly, but not quite painlessly. Like a band-aid that gets stuck on your hair. He banned magic from the house, and Gabriel's mother moved east. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together, and pretty soon he was blackmailing Heather and Ginger, threatening to tell their husbands what they were if they didn't help keep him alive. He got his way. He quit his job, got put on unemployment benefits and acquired a small payment from Heather and Ginger every year for his generosity for keeping their secrets safe.

Like Gabriel, Tyler and William were both "special" kids as well. They had wands and books and talked to owls. Growing up together the boys only made each other stronger. They taught each other and helped each other, but they each had their own strengths. Tyler, the comic relief of the trio was rather smart with charms. He could turn a piece of math homework into a squirrel like it was no ones business. William, however, was much different. He was a rule keeper and hated the way Tyler used his skills. William was mostly book smart, but when it came to flor and fauna magic, he was rather brilliant. Gabriel, however, was very different than either of the two, and yet some sort of combination at the same time. Gabriel, like Tyler, never followed the rules, but to another extent. He blatantly ignored all rules of magic, and I mean all rules. Even the fundamentals he refused to learn. Wand movement, incantation, it was all meaningless to him. He would watch Tyler and William try and master a spell, and the entire time Gabriel would sit and think of a better way to do it, a more dramatic or theatrical way. In short, Gabriel was a genius, a Mozart of the magical world, and no one understood him. Like William he would spend his free time in books, but only to cross things out and write in his own way of doing things. It was heresy to William and Chaos to Tyler. Gabriel could not be stopped though. He broke all the rules of magic, but never crossed the line between genius and mad, creative and out of control.

Gabriel parked in the small senior parking lot where Tyler and William were waiting. They were both rather tall and built. Tyler had short, buzzed, brown hair and bright blue eyes. William had longer, darker hair that framed deep, insightful, green eyes.

"Hey Gabe," Tyler huffed.

"Hey Alex! Hi Bree!" William cheered.

"Hello William, hello Tyler," they recited back at him. The girls turned and strutted toward the school where the other middle schoolers waited for them.

"Hey Ty, hey Bill." Gabriel always called them Ty and Bill.

"Happy birthday bro," Tyler smiled at Gabriel.

"Thanks man," he smiled back.

"What'd you get?" William asked jumping to his feet.

"A card from the girls, and a hangover from my dad," he huffed as they started for the school.

"I'm sorry man," Tyler said.

"What are ya gona do?" Gabriel huffed again.

"It's really not fair," said William.

"Seriously," said Tyler.

"I guess I don't really care," Gabriel told him.

"Well why does he get to make your life a living hell? I mean, what did _you_ do?" Tyler said working himself up.

"Well I learn magic behind his back," said Gabriel, trying to avoid another one of Tyler's outbursts.

"Why should he care about that anyway?" Tyler started to yell.

"Chill," he said. "You're not even the one in pain here."

"Yeah, I know," he said under his breath.

"Do you think he knows," William whispered.

"No. I thought he caught me last night, but I got lucky," Gabriel told him.

"What?" they both said.

"I got at Pith Pinch from my mom," he said, pulling the stone out of his shirt to show them. It was a green, almost orange color. "It tells me what people are feeling. Anyway, I though he caught me last night, but he was just up treating his alcohol problem."

"That's cool!" William said grabbing the stone from Gabriel's hand. William starred at it for a while when it suddenly turned a deep purple.

"Happy Birthday Gabe," a smooth, angelic, voice swooned from behind the trio. Gabriel jumped around to see a long, curly harried blond, with dramatic, black eyes starring into his.

"Hey Lane," he said smoothly. If there was anyone Gabriel could be his true self around, it was Lane.  
>"You doing anything after school?" she asked softly, eyes squinting.<p>

"Oh, so busy," he said quickly with a smile. She smiled. "But I think I could spare a minute."

Gabriel walked up to her and closed his hands around her back.

"Well I don't want to ruin your plans," she said playing along, "but it is kind of an important day."

"You know that's true. Meet here after school?" he said. She smiled and let him kiss her on the forehead. Then she turned and walked toward the school.

"She always looks sooooo good in that mini skirt," Tyler tried to whisper. Gabriel punched him

in the arm and he did everything he could not to scream out.

Suddenly, a familiar ringing filled the air as the school bell rang throughout the campus.

"I'll see you guys later," Gabriel huffed as he took off in a short jog toward his class.

Being a senior had it's perks. And Gabriel took advantage of every one of them. The best was getting out of school early. First period was AP Microeconomics, then AP English, then Marine Biology. Before long, it was 11:45, and Gabriel was back at his car in the parking lot. She was there waiting for him.

Lane LaBelle was a beautiful girl. She was a smart and talented and always had some guy after her. There wasn't a boy on campus that hadn't at some point in time had crush on her. She was graceful, and being a ballerina she walked more like a lioness instead of a seventeen-year-old high school student.

"Hey," she said timidly.

"You look great!" he said again.

"You don't look to bad yourself," she flirted.  
>"So, what do you wana do?" he asked leaning up against the blue bug beside her.<p>

"Lunch?"

"Where?"

"Where do you wana go?"

"I don't know...where do you wana go?"

She watched him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "I don't know? I don't really care."  
>He looked at her and smiled a half smile. He knew she really didn't care. She just wanted to be<p>

with him.

They just looked each other for a while. Their black eyes watching each others hearts.

"Lets go to the Counter," she said.

He unlocked the door and jumped inside. Then he reached over and unlocked the passenger side. Lane slid in beside him and slammed the metal door shut.

Lane was special to Gabriel in every way. She loved him and he loved her, and there was nothing he could do to stop that, though he secretly wanted to. They had discovered each other only a year ago when Gabriel decided in a moment of spontaneity to ask her to homecoming. She said yes and they had been inseparable ever since. He told her everything, (nearly everything) and she could only do the same. Gabriel loved her but hated that he did. What would she think if she knew what he really was? His genius carried over into school, for he was a mathematician like none other, and she loved that, but what if she knew about his real talents? He always ignored his wizard half when he was with her. Something about her seemed right, almost more right than an afternoon in a secret place with a wand and an owl.

Gabriel smiled thinking about the next weekend, homecoming. He had already asked her, but this homecoming would mark their year anniversary. He knew exactly what to do.

"I decided on white," she told him after lunch. They snuggled by the outdoor fire pit of the large open mall.

"White? I thought you liked pink," he said.

"Yeah, but pink seems so immature I guess. Every girl always does something overly flashy and colorful. So I thought white." She said matter-of-factly.

"Okay, white's great," he said holding her closer. He put his face into her hair and breathed in and out deeply. She smiled and closed her eyes.

"What am I going to do without you," she said. Not asked, said.

Gabriel opened his eyes. He pulled her up and looked into her eyes.

"Oh, don't give me that Disney princess, helplessness crap. You're going to be fine," he told her.

"I know I'm not helpless. I just love you so much and I cant stand the idea that we will end up in different places next year. I just want to be with you always," she said.

"I know you do," he whispered.

Both Lane and Gabriel hated high school more than anything. The selfish shallow people, the condescending social sphere, the promise of misery every day. But they only had one year left, and that year was already a fourth over. But like any high school sweethearts, they wanted each other more than the idea of college. Lane wanted to be a lawyer, and Gabriel was thinking about going to Massachusetts to find work in the magical world. He honestly wanted nothing to do with muggle life.

"But we have a lifetime before that happens," he assured her.

"No we don't. This is only a year. So much happens and it all happens too fast," she said. He knew she was right.

"But lets not spoil it while it passes. Lets love each other wile we still can."

"Ok, but for now promise me you'll never leave," she said.

"I promise," he said.

She leaned back into him and they watched the fire. He knew it would all be over soon, but for now he could promise her this. For there was magic in even a muggle promise.

It was close to ten when Gabriel finally got home. He had spent the afternoon with Lane until 8:30 when his sisters were done with ballet practice. The girls were up in their bedroom before Gabriel reached the garage door. He climbed up the back steps and started down the hallway. He pulled out the stone around his neck, and it turned black.

"Gabe! Get in here!" his dad roared as he passed the kitchen.

"You okay dad?" Gabriel mumbled. Fear struck him cold. What was wrong?

Gabriel walked into the kitchen to find his dad sprawled out on the couch. He was large beast of a man with pillowed skin under his eyes. The harshness of the faded broken skin darkened his face, his black billowing eyebrows permanently pulled down in the center gave him the look of a bear about to attack…attack or fall asleep. Either way, the ugliness out did any good feature he possessed, which there were few of anyway. A large, drooping nose sat just above the center of his face, making the space above his eyes where his brain should be, visibly small. His hair was black and thin and lacking on the top where a white patch of skin had ejected any hair that had grown there before. His arms were large and strong, his legs long and built, his stomach round and lopsided. Gabriel spotted the beer cans and chip bags littering the floor.

How could this creature be my dad?

"How come you're home so late?" he mumbled.

"The girls have dance on Mondays and Wednesdays...you know that," Gabriel started.

"Its Monday?" he growled.

"Yeah...Dad have you been drinking?"

"Where are the girls?" he stammered.

"They're upstairs," he whispered.

"What? What are they doing?"

"I don't know," Gabriel whispered again, trying to hide the hate in his voice. The man turned on him.

"Did you get them dinner?"

"Yeah."

"Good." The man stood up and walked around toward the kitchen. Easily, he stood at six feet eight inches, and looked as if he could lift a car, even in his drunken state.

"I'm going to go to bed," Gabriel muttered, turning toward his bedroom.

"Whoooh there," he grabbed Gabriel hard by his arm. Gabriel immediately pulled away. His dad starred him down. Gabriel looked down.

"What?" the boy whispered after a second.

"We're going to court tomorrow," he mumbled, brushing the boy off, "you and the girls better be on your best behavior. I wouldn't want to...well I don't know..." he grinned a distorted grin at him. Then he got serious again. "Get to bed."


	3. A Fair Life

3. A fair life  
>Gabriel woke up sweating again. He dragged himself out of bed, jumped in the shower, jumped out, put on a pair of boxers, his dark jeans, a white v-neck, a long black fitted coat, and a pair of grey high-tops. He glanced at the clock; 6:50.<br>His dad and sisters were waiting in the living room.  
>"You're going to be late if you don't hurry," David said cheerfully, "I made you breakfast." Gabriel saw a couple of toasted Poptarts. The girls were eating theirs solemnly in the corner. They were all dressed up in matching blue and pink dresses. David was in an ill-fitting grey suit and a black tie. His black, dress shoes were dusty from not being used and his hair was combed over to cover the white spot in the center of his head.<br>"Aren't you going to say 'good-morning'?" he started to growl.  
>"Morning," Gabriel whispered.<br>"You guys better get going," David told them. The girls immediately got up and headed for the door. Gabriel followed them.  
>"You'll bring them to the court house at three, right?" David told him more than asked.<br>"Yeah," Gabriel mumbled as he walked out.  
>"ROOOOPH!" Sophie, the neighbor dog barked at them as they climbed into the bug.<br>"Hey girl," Gabriel said, "We'll see ya!"  
>"Rooph!" she barked again, wagging her tail.<br>They got to school right at 7:35. Tyler and William were waiting for them as always. They exchanged hellos, the girls rushed off to meet their peers and the trio headed for the school.  
>"We're going to the courthouse today," Gabriel told them.<br>"What are you going to tell them," William asked.  
>"I don't know, Bill," Gabriel said rolling the stone around in his palm.<br>"You have to say something," Tyler told him.  
>"Like what? It really won't matter," he said quickly. They just starred at him.<p>

The bell rang and the three of them went in their separate directions. Today Gabriel had photo first, then statistics, then he ended with phsyc. He shuffled back to the parking lot where Tyler and William were waiting by his car.  
>"Whats this?" He said seeing them.<br>"We're going to lunch," Tyler told him.  
>"You coming?" William asked. Gabriel just watched them for a second. Then he grinned a half grin.<br>"I have to get ready for court," he told them.  
>"Come on, man," Tyler wined.<br>"I got to go man," he said unlocking his car and sliding into the seat.  
>"Tell us how it goes!" William yelled as he sped off. He passed by the front of the school where Lane was standing by her car. She waved at him as he passed. He smiled his half smile and took off.<br>When Gabriel got home, it was just after noon, and his father's car was gone. He stopped for a moment to pet Sophie and he immediately headed for the rocks. He pulled away the rocks and dirt from the root and pulled out his wand.  
>"Cooooh!' Jasper swooned right above him.<br>"Is that from mom?" he asked, spying the letter at Jasper's feet. The owl nudged it forward and it landed in his hand. Gabriel waved his wand over the envelope. It wiggled, the lifted into the air, tore open and unfolded.  
>"Gabe,<p>

I just remembered you have your court date today. Please please please don't do or say anything you are going to regret. Your dad loves you. I know he does. And he loves the girls too. Please help me out one more time. Please. I know it isn't fair of me to do this, but I need you to stay strong. For me and the girls. I love you!

Mom"

That was all he needed. Suddenly everything went black for a moment as a hate so deep boiled to the surface. How could she say this?

"I don't get it," he whispered.

"Whooo," the owl cooed.

"Why does she make me do this? After everything he's done." Gabriel read the letter over again. He held the letter up in the air and pointed his wand at the bottom corner. Without saying anything, a spark flew out of the end, and the letter caught fire. He kept his wand at the letter and then let go of it. It floated up in the air and crumpled down into a flaming ball. The owl hopped down beside him and rubbed against the boy's arm.

"Hey Jasper," he said, "what have you been up to?"

"Cooh, coooooh," it swooned.

"Well that sounds nifty," he told him.

"Cooh?"

"Yeah. But what are you gonna do?"

"Coooooh, whoo, whooooo."

"Tell me about it."

Gabriel waved his wand over the floating fire and it changed from a deep red to purple. He waved it again and it turned blue. He spotted a single, pink rose growing beneath the large trunk.

Suddenly everything changed. He went into genius mode. If there was something Gabriel was a master at, it was latin and greek. Most every spell out there had a latin or greek base, so as an aspiring spell composer, he made it his mission long ago to learn both. Thinking hard, and reviewing magical mathmatics over and over again in his head, he managed to think something up. Now, turning a cup ot bowl into a living animal was an easy task for any wizard, but turning one living thing into another was rather hard stuff. But Gabriel had something else in mind. He focused hard on the rose and pointed his wand right at the heart of the flower. Then he muttered "_Cedo deus." _

Nothing happened for a moment, then it began to shake softly. The petals gathered together like a bud accept for two who began to beat like bees wings. The stem split in two and the entire flower lifted by the fluttering petals into the air. It spun around, and all at once the flower became like a tiny fairy, with petals for wings, stems for legs, leafs for arms, and a flower bud for a head. Two black eyes and a small mouth smiled up at the bird.

"What do you think?" he said. The poor owl starred in amazement at the small creature.

"Prrissssier!" the sprite squeaked. The owl jumped backward, then hopped back toward the sprite. It landed in the dirt and looked around, picking up a pebble in it's tiny hand and dropping it back down. It turned around a few times and lifted back up into the air. A small breeze pushed it a few inches right and it landed back on the ground, shaking in fear. Gabriel chuckled and put his hand out for the sprite. It saw him and climbed into his palm.

"Prrrrisssssssssier!" it squeaked. The rose spotted Gabriels Pith Pinch hanging around his neck, hovered into the air and grabbed it. It watched it as it changed from blue to green to yellow and back to blue.

"You're kinda strong." The stone was easily as big as its head.

"Coooh!" Jasper swooned at the sprite. It spotted him again and leapt onto his head. Gabriel chuckled again.

"And curious," he told the flower.

"Prrissssier! Sssssssiiier!"

"Let's call you...Sier."

"Prrissssiier!"

"Cooohh!"

"Jasper and Sier. I like it."

Just then, Gabriel felt as the stone on his chest as it turned black, and he heard the familiar chugging of his father's car as it pulled into the driveway. He jumped up, and saw the black Lexus and it sped down the white pavement.

"_Aguamente!" _he whispered and water shot from his wand onto the floating flames. He leapt for the hole, threw the rock in front of it, and covered it with dirt.

"GO!" he whispered as loud as he could. Poor Sier looked confused, but Jasper had a wild look in his eye. He knew he was in trouble. The owl leapt into the air and the sprite grabbed hold of his feathers. Gabriel stood up strait and closed his eyes quickly. Instantly, he felt as if he was being shot through a tube, six inches in diameter, but only for a second, and then he was in his room. Apparating from one place to another was no limo ride.

"Gabe?" he heard his father yell. He was just about to call back when he noticed his wand still in his hand.

"GABE?" David yelled again. Without really thinking, he lunged for his bed and jammed it under his pillow.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" The mans voice was right at his door. Gabriel turned around right as he door pushed open.

"Hey!" he said loudly. The man starred at him.

"Why didn't you answer?" He eyed the boy.

"Bathroom," he said timidly.

"...right..."

They both stood there, watching each other.

"I...got to go get the girls," Gabriel mumbled.

"Yes you do," David told him. Gabriel hesitated, and then rushed passed him.

"BE THERE ON TIME!" The man yelled after him. Gabriel didn't answer. He rushed down the steps and out the back door down to his car. He jumped in and took off down the road.

Gabriel's heart was still racing when he got to the middle school. He hadn't looked at the clock yet. 2:50. The girls would be out at 3. He switched on the radio, slouched down in the small seat and grabbed his backpack. Rummaging through it, he found a copy of "1,000,000 Facts, Fictions, and Know Hows" by Kripen Kross, proclaimed professor of Cobblecot School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was William's gift to him for his birthday. There were twenty-three pages, each with a large letter of the alphabet on it. He turned to the page with a large 'P'.  
>"Pith Pinch," he said out loud. The 'P' faded away, and paragraph after paragraph of words faded in.<br>"The Pith Pinch!  
>The 'Pith Pinch', or 'Soul Searcher', inventeddiscovered by Wittle Hobbs (also discoverer of the Seeing Stone), tells the bearer his/her/it's immediate feelings or moods, and the feelings or moods of those within a range of approximately 20 feet or of those who have particularly strong emotions, by use of color."  
>Gabriel chuckled, thinking of his dad.<br>"Once the Pith Pinch establishes a 'nexu' or a permanent bond with a bearer, it can directly 'speak' to the bearer's mind, telling him the emotions, and even the thoughts of those whom the bearer wishes to investigate. This 'nexu' is only established once the Pith Pinch decides that a bearer is worthy of such abilities.  
>The Pith Pinch was found by Mr. Hobbs in North-East Asia in 1399, as..."<br>He stopped reading there.  
>"Are we connected?" he asked the stone around his neck. It turned a bright shade of yellow. Then it suddenly turned green, and then purple, then yellow again. "Cool."<br>The school bell rang harshly, and Gabriel watched as the girls rushed from the school, in their blue and pink dresses to the car. Gabriel put the book away, and when the girls reached the car he asked them how their day went and if anything interesting happened. They led a resounding "fine" and then a "no". Gabriel started up the car and they were off to the courthouse. 

…

"You just had a birthday didn't you?" a large man in a tight-fitting black suit asked him from across a long, metal table.  
>"Yeah," Gabriel articulated.<br>"Eight-teen! You're a man now!" he said enthusiastically.  
>"Yep."<br>"What'd you get?"  
>"An iTunes card," he mumbled.<p>

The man hesitated. "That's it?"

"Yeah," he huffed.

"Well," he mumbled scratching something down on a clipboard, "how have things been at home?"

He thought about telling the man about his dad always being drunk or hitting the table or the wall and all the yelling and grabbing. Then he thought about his mom.

_ Please, Gabe. For me Gabe._

"It's been good," he said, trying to sound convincing.

"Really?" he said, unconvinced. He watched Gabriel for a moment, and Gabriel watched the table.

"Yeah," he whispered finally.

"You know you can tell me," he told the boy. Gabriel didn't answer for a while.

"It's been fine."

No one said anything for a moment.

"Really? So, no yelling, or hitting..." the man began, " because the girls have a few bruises and your dad's alcohol level..."

"NO! IT'S BEEN FINE!" he yelled. The man was silent for a while.

"Gabriel. I can't do anything unless you tell me," the man seemed solemn.

Gabriel thought about that. He thought about his sisters. His dad. His mom. His mom.

"Everything is okay. He loves us. Everything is fine," he told him looking at the table.

Silence.

"Okay."

Gabriel met Alexus and Breanna and his father in the court lobby.

"Alright Mr. Locket, we are ready for you now," the woman walking Gabriel out to the lobby told his dad. He smiled at his son, but Gabriel felt the stone turn dead black. The three of them, Gabriel, Alexus and Breanna waited in that lobby in silence for their dad. Gabriel played with the stone. It was a dark green, like a sick child. Both of the girls looked sick to him. But what could he say?

It didn't take long before they were done with Mr. Locket. He strutted out, tight suit, come-over and all, and marched right up to the kids.

"Well, clean bill of health!" he announced. Gabriel shivered with fury. It wasn't fair. "Who wants to celebrate?"

No one said anything.

"We will..." Alexus stammered.

"Yeah," Breanna chimed in.

"Coming Gabriel?" His father growled.

"No," he muttered. The old man starred him down. Gabriel glared up at him. The man was about to lash out when he realized where he was.

"We'll...see you at home then..." he said through his teeth.

"Yeah. I guess you will."

Gabriel marched out to his car, fell into the seat and slammed the door shut. He jammed the key into the ignition, threw it into first gear, took off down the highway, and drove. He drove for miles. Miles and miles. And all the way, screaming. He drove till there was no more gas, which frankly wasn't that far. He only got to the boarder of Nevada when his car stopped. He put it in neutral and pushed it into a gas station. It only took about forty dollars to fill the small tank. Gabriel sat in his car at the station, just sat. He sat there for a while, playing with his ring. A ring his mother got him for his eleventh birthday, the same day he got his wand.

_Don't ever take it off,_ her voice rang in his head. _Never._ _Always keep it on you, and I will always be there. Never take if off Gabe. Never._

He never did. It meant so much to him.

_ For me, Gabe. For me. _

He threw the car into first and sped off down the road again.

He got home at almost two in the morning. The house was dark, and asleep. All accept for one light in the living room, right next to his door. The stone was black, darker then ever.  
>"Gabe?" his father said as he made it to the end of the hallway. Gabriel turned to see the back of his father's head as he sat on the couch. Beer glasses cover the floor.<br>"Yeah," he whispered.  
>"Where have you been?" the man growled.<br>"Out."  
>He turned around. His eyes were grey and bloodshot, and his face was wet with sweat that creased in the wrinkles of his face. He stood up and walked around the couch. That's when Gabriel saw it. His wand, in his father's hand.<br>"I found this," he slurred, drunk, "in your room. Your not supposed to have this," he said waving the wand in the air. Gabriel stood frozen. He watched the wand as the large one dropped it on the couch.  
>"I..." the boy tried to say.<br>"SHUT UP!" the man screamed. Gabriel took one step back and David took three forward. He grabbed the boy around the neck and squeezed. Gabriel started to choke. Then, as quickly as he grabbed him, he threw him down on the tile floor. The boy was coughing.  
>"I...I..." he tried to say again. He looked up into his eyes, those grey, bloodshot eyes. The stone suddenly grew darker.<br>"You're just like you mother," the man grumbled through his teeth.  
>"Good," Gabriel whispered. And the stone grew darker.<br>"YOU WANA BE LIKE HER?" He kicked the boy. He kicked him on the floor, in the stomach. "YOU WANA BE LIKE THAT BITCH?" The man picked the boy up by the neck and threw him back across the room. Gabriel hit the couch and it rolled over. His wand slid over by the fireplace.  
>"Please," Gabriel coughed as blood splattered all over his shirt. He spotted the wand up against the granite and crawled slowly toward it, "dad."<br>"OH SHUT UP!" he screamed, and lunged toward him. But it was to late. It had happened. Gabriel grabbed the wand and closed his eyes, and in a instant he was gone.  
>He opened his eyes and he was up in the rocks. His hand and legs shivering, blood covering his mouth and chest. For a moment, time stood still. All the blood left in his body rushed to his head. He saw the faces of his sisters and his mother and of Tyler and William and Lane. And then he saw his father, that man who tortured Gabriel's very existence. His face burned from the inside of Gabriel's eyes. That face like a hog, ugly and twisted in anger.<p>

Something happened then. A voice whispered to him, his mother's voice. She reached out to him, trying to call him back. But it was too late, it had happened. A darkness, deep and smoldering, sparked and kicked up by the pain of his father, sprang to life within him. A dark fire, suppressed by his mothers still small voice, broke up through the bars of her words. Her voice called to him, pulling at his heart, but it was already caught up in the cold flames. Like ice, the darkness froze over his mind and pulled him to a new state of consciousness. It had taken him.

He clenched the wand tight in his fist, took a breath, closed his eyes, and apparated back into the house.  
>He was standing in the doorway of his room, starring down at his father who was still huddled by the fireplace. The man whipped around, stunned to see the boy.<br>"How..." the large one gasped. Suddenly, all at once, the boy raised his wand and screamed, "_CRUCIO!"_  
>The man jolted to the floor and doubled over in pain. He spasamed and cringed, trying to scream. The man felt as if his spine was spinning and cracking and breaking. Gabriel pulled his wand away and all at once the pain left him. He pointed his wand at the body on the floor and muttered, "<em>IMPERIO!" <em>The man stiffened like a board. Gabriel raised his wand and the body followed. He threw the man against the wall and then released him. "_CRUCIO!" _He screamed again and the body rolled over in unspeakable pain. He let him go and watched the body as the man sobbed like a child. "_IMPERIO!" _And he threw him against the other wall. He rolled the stiff body over and let him go. The man starred into his eyes. Blood gushed from his mouth and tears boiled down his face. Gabriel watched him bleed.  
><em>For me, Gabe. For me. <em>Her words pulling the ice back.  
>He watched his father bleed. But there was still ice left. "<em>Imperio," <em>he whispered. He lifted the man and threw him back toward the door, then turned and threw him across the room, through the glas window and let him fall into the pool outside. Then he watched as the man, barely alive, tried to swim and swim. A red velvet liquid stretching over the pool like a blanket.

And then Gabriel vanished.


	4. Donarium

4. Donarium  
>Gabriel stood before the dark house of his cousin Tyler. It was a large two-story house with a small tower where the playroom was. It stood on the edge of a dirt road with two acres behind it. No street lights or city lights were in sight. The house sat deep in Loomis where neighbors were set acres apart.<br>Gabriel shivered in cold night air. His wand still clenched in his fist and his hands and legs still shaking. He walked around the large house to the back where Tyler's window was on the second floor. Bella, the family dog instantly woke when she heard him.  
>"Rrrrrhh," she started.<br>"_Nox," _He whispered and she fell asleep. He turned to the house and found the window with a poster of Taylor Swift in it. He knelt down, picked up a few pebbles and threw them up at the window. When nothing happened after the fifth pebble, he aimed his wand at the window and whispered, "_evoco." _Half a moment later, Tyler was at the window. Gabriel mouthed for him to meet him by the front door, and Tyler disappeared into his room.  
>"What are you doing here?" He said looking up at Gabriel, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and leaning out the doorway in his black robe.<br>"I ran away," he said too quickly.  
>"What?" Tyler slipped through the doorway and closed it silently. He eyed the blood covering Gabriel's shirt, "What happened?"<p>

"Ill tell you later. We have to go get Bill."

"Wha...Why?"

"I'm not saying anything till we're in Donarium."

In a moment, Tyler and Gabriel were standing in front of William's shack of a house. It was entirely engulfed in trees, and only the small dirt road gave any hope of a connection to civilization.

"_Evoco," _Gabriel whispered, his wand aimed at William's window at the front of the house. William joined the trio without protest, and in another moment they were standing somewhere in the middle of some street surrounded by trees and grass. The night was dark, dark enough to depress a happy meal.

Tyler checked the road to their right, and William checked the road to their left. Gabriel looked down both ways, and when he was sure no one was watching, he stepped into the tall grass, leading the way for the other two. Soon, they were surrounded by trees on all four sides, and before them was a rather strange sort of archway of branches, sprouting from two, rather out-of-place willow trees. Gabriel stopped in front of the archway as Tyler took his place at Gabriel's right and William on his left. He lifted his wand, aiming it at the heart of the open archway and Tyler and William did the same.

"_Donarium,_" they spoke in unison, and a spark of light, white light, like a star, manifested in front of the arch, right at the level of the three wands.

"Fidus_,_" Tyler said strongly, and the light turned red.

"_Pax,_" William said next, and the light changed to green.

"_Eros,_" Gabriel concluded, and the spark became silver. 

It began to spin, disturbing the air around it into a cyclone so small, it hardly whispered the hair on Gabriel's forehead. It spun and spun, rings of red, green and silver encircling the small star, until it imploded, lighting up the willows in a brilliant purple, and then disappearing completely. The night was dark again.

Gabriel waved his wand from left to right and the branches pulled aside reviling a large meadow that seemed much to out of place. It was lined by the forest, which formed a perfect circle around the open space. It was open and perfectly flat, without hills, or bushes or rocks. It was completely clear accept for a single oak tree that sat in the very center of the clearing, easily a hundred years old, but still strong. Starting from the base of the tree, was a climbing ladder, and way up the trunk, right where the branches split, was a small tree house.

It was yellow, with blue window shutters, and seemed to be two stories high. It even had a small balcony and a brick chimney.

Tyler took a deep breath, and led the way to the base of the oversized tree. William followed close behind, and Gabriel brought up the rear. The ladder lead to the bottom of the house where a small trap door opened up into a room twelve times the size it should have been.

The boys walked into a familiar room, a place of their childhood. Donarium, as they called it. It was theirs, and theirs only. They had built it, and no one, not even their witch mothers knew about it.

The enchanted tree house, somehow bigger on the inside than the out, had three unmatched couches circled around a large unlit fireplace on the bottom floor. There was a large, oversized bookcase, overflowing with books, orbs, cages and boxes. Two steps up, there was a small kitchen with a small table, always set for three. On the far side of the room, a staircase led up to an open second floor were three small cots sat ready for the boys at any moment, with the heads of the cots all-facing in. There was also a working bathroom and a large lever that opened up the ceiling for ideal stargazing. It was everything three guys needed to be entertained on summer nights, but now there was something desperate in the air, something not right about their needing it now.

Gabriel turned his attention to the unlit wood in the fireplace. He waved his wand silently and a purple flame burst from the dry wood. The room smelled like springtime. The smell of lilac tickled their noses, and Gabriel plopped down into the brown couch that sat directly in front of the flames. William sat on the edge of the yellow one on the left and Tyler put his feet up on the blue couch on Gabriel's right.

It being a tree house, there were rules. Rules written in blood twelve years ago, that now hung above the fireplace

Fidus - Pax - Eros

Knights of Donarium

Rule 1

Tell no one of Donarium

Rule 2

The Knights shall call each other by their Knighted names

Rule 3

Magic Magic Magic

The third rule wasn't really a rule, but they knew what it meant, and that was all that mattered.

"Eros," Tyler began. He would have said Gabriel, but he couldn't. "Eros, what happened?"

Gabriel spun his wand between his fingers and watched the purple flames. There was still blood on his hands. He waved his wand again and the flame turned blue.

"EROS!" Tyler huffed.

"I ran away," he said.

"Yes we got that, what happened?" No one said anything for a while.

"We fought," was all he said.

"What do you mean..." Tyler started.

"Fidus! Let him talk," William said sternly.

"Why are you...?" Tyler started again.

"Shut up." he snapped at him. Tyler followed William's gaze. He hadn't seen the redness in Gabriel's eyes, and the stain of tears on his face.

They sat still for a while. Gabriel clenched the rock around his neck. It grew a pale, sickly blue, matching the flame.

"He called her a bitch," Gabriel finally said. They knew who he meant.

"Eros," William said understandingly. It was nice hearing that. Gabriel felt like that was his name more than his actual name.

"Yeah know," he started, "it's funny. How I didn't feel anything. When I did it." Immediately, Tyler began to expect the worse, William was set back too.

"What did you do?" William said slowly, syllable after syllable. Gabriel just watched his ring sparkle in the blue firelight.

_For me, Gabriel. For me._

_ I did it for you mom. I did it for all of us. _He thought to himself.

He spun the ring, capturing every detail. It meant so much to him. The day he turned eleven, it was the very first of many gifts. The moment he turned eleven is more like it. She woke him up at 3:13 in the morning, and handed him a small velvet box with a silver ribbon around it. He complained about how early it was, but she was so persistent. He would be turning eleven at 3:15 and she didn't want him wasting time. He pulled on the ribbon and cracked open the box to find a small silver band with a clear diamond in the middle where the band grew to encase the rock. Around the band were lines and lines of black engraved markings, some English, most some sort of glyph. He only had a moment to look at it before she shoved it down on his third finger of his right hand. The band had looked rather big for him, but the moment it was in place, it shrunk down, perfectly snug on his finger. He wasn't awake enough to know if the ring had actually shrunk, or if he was still partly dreaming.

"Don't ever take it off, Gabriel," She said sternly. That woke him up.

"What?" He said, trying hard to listen.

"Don't you ever take it off. This is important. No matter what."

"Wh..why?" he stuttered.

"Because I said so," she concluded. Still being young, this explanation was good enough for him, but now…now that he was eighteen, he sort of wondered. There was no question, the ring was enchanted. When he grew, the ring grew. And the runes engraved on the silver had to mean something. He had spotted some of them in his "History of Magic" textbook, but not enough to try and make out what they meant. And he didn't have the courage to ask his mom. When he used to bring it up when he was still such a young wizard, she would just tell him not to worry about it, but never take it off. Once, she said something about it resembling how she is always with him, but she said that about the ugly curtains in his bathroom that she wouldn't let him take down too, so he had kept it on. Always. Never even thought about taking it off, till now.

Tyler and William had rings just like his. Only Tyler had a red diamond, and William green. They had gotten their's in the same strange fashion. Right on the hour of their birth-moments, and had never taken them off since.

"Eros, what did you do?" William sounded out again.

_For me, Gabriel. For me. _

_ I did it for you._

_ You did wrong. _

Gabriel pulled the ring off his hand and threw it in the fire. No one said anything.

"The Cruciatus Curse," he said simply. Tyler's face went white. William's face cold. The laws of magic established by the distant Ministry of Magic weren't enforced well in North America. In fact, the Ministry had almost no jurisdiction there, and the government that did rule in America, The Capitolium, was corrupt and hardly existent. But the three of them all knew it was a horrible thing to use an unforgivable curse.

"What…?" Tyler whispered.

"Eros…" William huffed. He said nothing.

"And the Imperious Curse," he cut William off.

The fire cracked. The wind hushed through the leaves of the tree. A far off coyote cried out to his friends.

"What's gonna happen to the girls?" he whispered to himself. Neither of them had an answer. "What's gonna happen to them?"

"They're gonna be just fine," William began confidently, "I'm gonna go home, right now. I'll wake up my parent's tell them what happened. We'll call child protective services, tell them that he attacked you and you fought back. That should explain his bruises and broken bones. They'll understand. We'll have the girls will come live with us, and your dad will be gone."

"And you'll come live with me," Tyler interjected. Gabriel looked up at them, red eyes and all, grateful.

"Your life's about to change Gabriel, for good. He can't hurt you anymore," William said, his eyes locking with Gabriel's, "It's over. The pain, the destruction. You can start your life now! The beginning of senior year, and the end of your past with him. It's time to start your life now, Gabriel."

There was a sincere silence till:

"Wow, William. Where the hell did that Hallmark card come from?" Tyler snorted. They all busted into hysterics. Gabriel knew he was right. This was it. His time to live. It was cheesy but true.

The fire turned a deep shade of burgundy, and the night led on.

And when Gabriel woke up the next day, the fingers of a nightmare were not there. For the first time they were not there.


	5. A New Life

5. A new life

It was true, about starting his new life. His dad was taken away the next day. William's parents told the police everything they could about David Locket, and he was gone. Gabriels and the boy's abilities were kept a secret from the police as well as their dads. But the good news just kept coming.

"You get the house," a man in a long black coat said, hardly believing it himself.

"What?" Gabriel truly didn't understand.

"The house, it's yours," the man said shaking his head.

"…what?" Gabriel starred in bewilderment. The man huffed.

"Well," he began agitated, "the mortgage is completely paid off. Completely." He sounded annoyed. "And the utility bills are being sent to somewhere in Massachusetts."

"Mom," Gabriel whispered.

"Rose Locket," the man muttered looking through his papers.

"Yeah!"

"She's been paying the bills for…fourteen years. Paid off the mortgage…seven years ago." The man grunted.

It didn't make sense. If she'd been paying off the mortgage and the bills why hadn't she said anything? And why did she move out and let that bastard keep squatting here? Why wasn't she living here now? Would she come? Maybe.

"Why would she leave it for me? Is she coming to move in?" Gabriel half whispered half asked.

"I don't know! How should I know?" the man groaned, "She answered the phone and said to give it to you! Happy birthday!" He said that last part so sarcastically, Gabriel couldn't help but laugh under his breath. What a child.

"What about the girls?" he suddenly realized.

"Your mother will be given full custody of them. She asked to be sent the paperwork. But because you are eighteen, and their closest relative, you will be responsible for them," he said robotically. Then, obviously thinking he had no more to say, he pulled down on his coat, shuffled his papers and strutted off into his '92 Ford.

"This doesn't make sense," he whispered.

"Prrrssssier!" Gabriel heard the familiar squeak.

"Cooh HOOH!" Jasper swooped in, Gabriel extended his arm and the black bird landed weightlessly on it.

"Prrsssssssssssiier!" the sprite on the owl's shoulders jumped and squeaked in excitement to see the boy. Together the three of them watched the man back out of the long driveway. The man saw the strange sight, but thought nothing of it.

When the car had disappeared, Gabriel turned toward the house, "Wow."

"Cooh," Jasper swooned in agreement.

"Gabriel?" he heard the echoing voices of two small girls say. Alexus and Breanna were at his side. The owl and his pilot were gone.

"Hey guys."

"What's going to happen now?" they said at the same time. He felt bad for them. He knew that they had still had some hope and love for their father, but he knew they also couldn't help but feel relieved that he was gone. He had never really done anything to harm them. Most of his hate and abuse was directed at Gabriel, but they were still confused on what they felt about the whole situation. They were still only ten.

"We get to move back here for good now," he said trying to sound strong for them, which startled him since he shouldn't be having mixed feelings.

"We don't have to move back in with Uncle Jonathan?" Alexus wined, hopeful.

"No," was all he could say. The past week had been strange. A few nights with William's family and a few nights back home with Aunt Heather watching them. Their dad was taken away the day that William's family called. It didn't take much for them to convince the police that David was a bad guy. The man did not even protest. A trial date was decided to be sometime next year, early February. But the evidence was so strong that they arrested him on the spot. Still, four months away. Four months to worry if things could change, which they could. But that does mean four months to relax till then.

The three siblings walked into the empty house, now theirs to live freely in. Gabriel headed strait for the phone. He punched his mom's number into the black receiver and waited.

_Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring… "Hi! You've reached Rose Lockheart!" _He hung up. He reached up and twirled the now grey-green stone around his neck. Nervous. She always answered the phone after three. She got home at three. It was four. He punched the number in again.

_Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring… "Hi! You've reached Rose Lockheart!" _He always thought it strange that she kept HIS last name. "_Leave me something fun and I'll try and get back to ya! KISSES!" _

"Hey mom…It's me…Gabe. I never heard back from you when I called you last week. Called a couple of times. Sent Jasper too…Anyway, they're giving me the house, and said that all the bills are being sent to you. Just thought you should know we're all right. Hoping that you're all right. Call me back. Or send an owl…Ok…Bye."

Something was wrong. He had never really thought about it, but she never answered him at all last week. You'd think that when a mother's kids are in trouble, and that their dad is being arrested that she'd at least call back.

He grabbed the phone again, dialed a different number.

_Ring. Ring. "Hellow?" _A pleasant, familiar voice answered.

"Hey Uncle Roy," Gabriel said trying to sound confident, "just thought I'd tell you we got the house."

_"Hey Gabe! Oh great! I was just thinking about that! Hey, you just send those utility bills right over here all right? Jonathan and I will be splitting the payments. We've already decided." _

"Actually, the bills are being sent to my mom. She's been paying them for years. Paid off the mortgage years ago."

"_…what? Are you serious? We didn't know that. That wasn't part of the divorce agreement." _

It made sense to Gabriel. David had been blackmailing her. "Yeah. They said she's taken over the house payments, and given it to me."

"_Until she gets back right?"_

"I…uh…don't know if she's coming back or not. I was actually wondering if you guys had heard anything from her?

"_Uhh no. Actually we've heard nothing from her." _

"Did you even get a hold of her last week? When we were staying with you? I didn't even think to ask!"

"_No…we didn't actually." _His voice sounded hopelessly confused. Pondering. There was a split silence as the man suddenly realized the situation.

"Is Aunt Heather there?" Gabriel stuttered.

"_Umm…no. She left for Massachusetts yesterday. Ginger went with her. Something came up." _

Something came up? That didn't sound right. But if they had to go to Boston, then they had to be meeting up with his mom.

"Can you call her for me? Tonight? See if she's with my mom?"

"_Of course Gabriel. Yeah." _

"Thanks."

"_Hey! You be sure and call if you need anything. Alright?" _

"Yeah. Thanks…OH! Uncle Roy?"

"_Yeah?"_ The man was still there.

"Could you tell William to meet Tyler and I in out usual spot?"

"_Uh…Sure!" _

"Ok. Bye!"

"_Bye!" click_

Gabriel met William and Tyler at the willow archway at about five.

_"Donarium" _they said together.

_"Fidus!" _Tyler.

_"Pax!" _William.

_"Eros!" _Gabriel.

This time, the trio flopped down upstairs on their small mattresses, and huffed a simultaneous huff. Gabriel waved his wand at the lever to his left and it began to crank on it's own. The ceiling above them began to open up and out, reveling a purple and pink, twilight sky.

"Something's wrong," he said.

"Eros, just cause you haven't heard from her in a few days doesn't mean that something's wrong," Tyler reassured.

"No, something's wrong! It's not like her. I mean I just lost dad…and she's gone silent."

"He's right," William said, his eyes watching something far off, "something's up."

"Oh come on…what do you mean?" Tyler said.

"Why did Mom and aunt Ginger just get up and leave?" he said still watching something unseen.

"They had a business trip," Tyler said, his confidence wavering, "it happens all the time."

"Yeah, with a months warning," Gabriel said.

"But there's no reason to get hysterical…yet," William assured, his gaze returning to the present. No one said anything for a moment. They watched as the pink sky faded away, and the purple deepened to indigo, then to black. The first stars appeared. Yellow, orange, white. They were so beautiful in the Californian sky. So soft and warm. The sky wasn't their summer sky that they usually saw in the tree house, but the soft winter stars were warm and homelike enough.

"Has your dad tried to get a-hold of your mom yet?" Gabriel said anxious, trying to calm his nerves.

"She only landed a couple of hours ago. She should call when she gets back from the Capitolium. Back to the hotel," William assured.

"Is she meeting my mom at all?" Gabriel asked.

"Well they do work together," Tyler retorted.

"Yeah but did she say that she would be meeting her!" Gabriel said, now in hysterics.

"Calm down. There's nothing to freak out about yet," William said.

"ARE YOU KIDDING? She's just leaving us alone then? I seriously doubt that!"

Tyler and William starred at him, shaken. Gabriel clasped the pith pinch around his neck, now red, almost black with worry and anger. Anger toward his mom. Why would she just leave them? Leave them to try and survive on their own now. On his own now. With two little sisters to try and take care of. What's he supposed to do?

"Lets not…get…" William didn't know what to say. Tyler just watched the sky, feeling helpless. What could they say to him? If there wasn't something wrong, then Gabriel was right; she was abandoning him. It just wasn't her to forget or let something else come in front of her caring for him.

"What can we do?" Tyler finally said. Gabriel back at him, not wanting to hear this. "Well it's true. What are we going to do? Right now, nothing."

"I guess," William said, his gaze fading out again, "all we can do now is wait."

Gabriel's gaze turned back to the sky, and he made out Orion who held his star studded sword. It looked more like a wand than a sword, but no muggle would say that.

"You know what you should do?" Tyler said, trying to catch Gabriel's eye, "take Lane out again."

He hadn't thought of that. He hadn't thought of her. Hope flooded his chest. The thought of her made him warm and alive again. He knew she liked him, maybe even loved him. All she did was try and talk to him, try and get him to talk to her, and all he did was cower away from her, like a mouse. All he did was cower into his cave of hopelessness, trying to cope with his father and his half-absent mother. But now both problems were gone. Now he had a new life. He would care for his sisters with his perfected magic skills. Maybe his mother's absence was a sign, from her. Saying that he was ready, ready to make it on his own. Ready to care for himself and for the girls. Money and food he could get from his family till he figured that out on his own too.

And Lane. Lane. Now he would have her. If he could still have her.

Gabriel shot up from his cot, "I have to go," he said rushing for the trap door."

"What now?" Tyler protested.

"I have to go call Lane!"

"Gabriel," said William.

"Yeah?"

"Here." William dropped a ring in Gabriel's hand. His ring. The one from his mom. Then one he threw in the fire. "She's still out there, ya know. Loving you."


	6. Young Love

6. Young Love

"You look great," Gabriel said, almost breathless.

"Thanks," was all she said, pulling her blond hair behind her ear. They took their seats in the Counter again.

"Ya know," she began, "you don't have to try and impress me." Gabriel started to laugh.

"Impress you? I'm just practicing for my other date!" He caught himself. That probably wasn't as funny as he thought it was in his head. That read on his face too. And she laughed.

"Later date! Well it better be with someone pretty amazing or else I might get a little offended." She played up her fake "hurt" face, playing in the moment.

"The only woman amazing enough to one up you is The Queen. Or mother Mary!"

She laughed at that, and he smiled letting the tension slip away. She liked to joke like this, it was friendly and harmless.

"Or Barbra Streisand," he concluded, and she couldn't contain herself. After a while, they just watched each other.

"Can I start you off with any drinks?" the waitress startled them.

"Oh God! Um yeah…" Lane said laughing.

"Sorry," Gabriel said trying to look away, his face flushed. "I'll have a coke."

"I'll have water, please," Lane followed. The waitress scribbled on her pad and walked off silent.

"Water?" Gabriel said with a funny expression.

"Yeah…why?" She said, ready for anything.

"Well…what does that say about you?"

"What do you mean?" Lane asked starting to laugh again.

"Well it says you're kinda..." he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Boring?" she said playing along.

"Well I was gona say wet, but," he said at the end of her word.

"Wet?" she started laughing again.

"Yeah! Wet people like water."

"Wet people? What the? Where did you come from?"

"Well…when a man loves a woman…"

"Oh God!" she was laughing again.

"You should order a milk shake," He said plainly.

"A milk shake?"

"Did I stutter?" he said in a playful voice. "Yes. I'm getting one."

"Oh don't! Cause if you get one then that means I should get one!"

"I'm getting one."

"You're getting one. Should I get one?"

"You…should get one."

"But…really? I don't know if I should get one. I want one!"

"You…should get one."

"Okay I'll get one!"

"Good." He concluded. She smiled widely at him.

"So what's going on at home?" she said, trying not to sound grim. He looked at her for a moment.

"Well my dad's been arrested so that's fun. And my mom had abandoned us and that's a hoot and a half," he said with a smile. He never spoke harshly and she loved that. He was genuinely a nice guy, always smiling, always whispering like it was the last he he would say. But even with that smile, even in that whisper, she could see his eyes turn red, his voice grow hoarse with anger.

"You ready to order?" the waitress said startling them again.

They both got the same burgers they had a week ago. They ate their food and had some small talk. When they had finished and Gabriel had paid the rather annoyed waitress, they headed outside and sat by the fire pit in the middle of the outside mall.

"Where do you see yourself in ten years?" Lane asked after a while.

"I feel like I'm on a dating site with these questions," Gabriel said, scooting down into the cushioned chair. She laughed and smiled widely at him, the firelight lighting up her otherwise dark eyes, highlighting the strands of gold in her hair.

"Seriously? What do you want to do with your life? I mean we are going to graduate soon," she smiled at him. He put his arm tight around her and pulled her in close. She laid her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart and the breath in his lungs.

But he didn't have a serious answer for her. No one had ever asked him that. Not even his mom. "I don't know," he said solemn. She was confused.

"Well what do you want to do after college?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if I'm going to college," he said it more to himself then to her.

She didn't say anything for a while. Just listened to his heart, listed for it to give up its secrets.

"Well that's normal. I'm sure you will get in to everywhere you apply to," she said.

Normal? Any normal teenager would worry about applying to college. He really wasn't sure if he wanted to go to college. Do wizards go to muggle college? He had gone to muggle high school because his dad wouldn't let him go to Cobblecot. But thinking about it, his mom didn't really fight that one. He suddenly got mad thinking about his mom. Her absence, neglect. It must have shown on his face again.

"You okay?" she hesitated asking.

"Yeah," he lied, trying to smiled again. "No," he said finally.

"You want to talk about it?" She asked. He didn't say anything.

"No," he said coldly.

"How long are you gonna put a wall up. Any other girl would have been fed up with it by now," she said suddenly very harshly.

He knew she was right. He told her things, sure, but he never told her what he felt. Not often really. He knew he didn't deserve her. But she stood by him none the less.

"I just don't know what I'm doing anymore. My dad's gone, my mom's disappeared. I don't know what to do." She watched him. He watched the fire.

"What happened? With your dad?"

"He," he thought hard about how to say this, "attacked me. And I…attacked back." He looked up at her and she was watching him hard. He pursed his lips, wanting her to say something. But she didn't. "He was arrested the next day."

"When did this all happen?"

"Last week. Wednesday night." He looked back down at the fire.

"I'm sorry," was all she said. He looked up at her and saw that she was. Truly was sorry. She reached out and grabbed his hand. It was warm from the fire. Warm in his darkening world. But this was all he needed. Just her. Lane, Tyler, William, the girls. It could be enough. Maybe. It could.

"Thanks, Lane," he whispered.

"For what?"

"For this. I feel like when I'm talking to you it's…real," he said.

She smiled at him. He smiled back.

"I don't want any walls between us anymore," she said. He smiled and kissed her softly.


	7. Homecoming

7. Homecoming

Gabriel woke up early that Saturday morning, sweating and breathing hard like always. But unlike before, he couldn't shake it off so easily. The shivering, the shaking, it was worse than ever.

"Get it together Gabe," he said to himself. After five minutes of controlled breathing, he finally felt normal. The morning and afternoon went by quickly, and before he knew it, it was two o'clock.

"Hi Gabe!" Uncle Roy greeted him, Tyler and William right behind him.

"Hey," he said, hardly as enthusiastic. "GIRLS! UNCLE ROY IS HERE!" The twins walked side by side down the stairs, appearing almost instantly.

"You guys ready?" the man asked them, all to excited.

"Hi uncle Roy?" Breanna said

"Hellow," Alexus said, finishing her sister's thought.

"Well we better be off," he said, almost cutting them off, "the boys got to get ready. See ya tomorrow guys! Have fun!"

And just like that the man and the two girls were out of the house. The boys hardly had time to say bye. The Robinsons were taking care of the girls while the boys went to homecoming. Gabriel thought about asking about his mother and if aunt Ginger or Aunt Heather had heard from her, but he felt hopeless about the matter. It had been four days since his aunts left and they hadn't been heard from. It wasn't unusual that they weren't heard from for a week, but Gabriel still felt funny about it.

"You showered yet?" William said, seeing the depression in Gabriel's face.

"Yeah."

"Well I CALL FIRST SHOWER!" Tyler said running to Gabriel's room.

"You can use the girls shower, up the stairs," Gabriel said, not looking at William.

"Hey," Gabriel's cousin said, grabbing is shoulder, "it's homecoming. Cheer up! Tonight's going to be amazing!"

They three boys met the girls at Hanna Chance's house, Tyler's date. The trio squeezed out of Gabriel's small Bug and stood shoulder to shoulder outside of the large house that matched all the others around it. In a minute, two other cars pulled up, and Jason Gibson, Mathew Jacobs, and Brian Moore climbed out of their cars and lined up with the cousins. They exchanged hellos and waited for the girls. Then, right on cue, six, beautiful women filed out of the front door and lined up on the lawn right in front of the house. The boys smiled all at the same time and approached their dates. Climbing out of the house was an entourage of parents and siblings of the young girls, all with cameras, all dressed up, all teary-eyed at the thought of their kids last homecoming.

After four years, the six boys were good at this whole "meet and greet the date and her parents" thing. Sarah, William's date wore a green dress that fell strait down to her feet. It was dotted with green and white gems. William matched her green with his own splash of green on his tie and vest. Hanna and Tyler both wore red. Her dress was short, but elegant. It was strapless and had layers and layers of red fabric that shot out on all sides. Jason and his date Taylor wore purple, Mathew and Jenna black, Brian and Emily in a deep orange. But Lane, Lane was in white.

Gabriel hadn't taken his eyes off her sense the moment she walked through that doorway. Her snow-white, strapless gown flowed down to her feet from her waist like an ever-flowing waterfall. There were no gems or extra fabric, just a gold ribbon that tied around her slim waist and finished in a quaint bow in the back. The gold matched her hair perfectly. It was simple, but so elegant. So perfect in every way.

"You look…absolutely amazing," he said, almost whispering. She smiled and looked down, then looked up and into his eyes.  
>"You look handsome," she said smiling up at him. She fixed his white tie and straitened his white vest that rested over his black tux shirt. She pulled on his jacket and his wand almost fell out of the inside pocket. All three of the boys had brought their wands, just on an instinct.<p>

"Um…this is for you," he said reveling a beautiful corsage of roses.

"And this is for you," she said showing him a small boutonnière. He put the corsage around her wrist, ignoring her mother who was obsessively taking pictures of the pair.

They took picture after picture. Pictures of the couples, pictures of the best friends, pictures of just the girls and just the guys and just the seniors and just the juniors and funny pictures and serious pictures, they took pictures for two hours, until finally, the limo arrived. The couples escaped from their paparazzi into the large Hummer Limo and were off.

The limo drove them around town for a while, until it pulled up to a small restaurant called the "High Hand Café". The twelve teens, all dressed like royals, glided into the outdoor restaurant, surrounded by vines, and trees, stone pathways, and fountains. Lattice covered in vines and stringed lights separated the tables from one another inside of an oversized greenhouse where the waitress seated the couples.

"The name of the fan is 'Big Ass Fan,'" Tyler chuckled watching the over sized blades spin thirty feet above their heads. The couples chatted quietly while they waited for their appetizers to be served.

"So, how are you doing this evening?" Gabriel asked rather formally. She giggled at him.

"Oh stop! Do you know who you are talking to?"

"Well I think I'm talking to the queen! Or her great granddaughter or something," he said formally again. She blushed and played with her hair, half up, and half down with a golden pin of a lotus flower on the right side.

"Well I'm doing just fabulously," she said in a funny accent.

"What was that?" he mocked. She lost it again, trying to hold back her laughter. "That was…I don't know what that was. It was just not good."

"Well thanks for nothing!" she said playing with him. He didn't say anything for a while, just watched her. Watched her face, smiling.

"What?" she said shyly.

"Nothing. You're just…beautiful."

She got serious. Her eyes filled with wonder and joy. Then she smiled and turned away blushing. He turned away too. He looked down at her hands and saw her playing with them.

"No jewelry?" he said.

"Just earrings," she looked up at him. He felt something in his pocket then. His ring. The one from his mom. His mom. The missing mom. Vanished from his life now. It frustrated him so much to think of her. It was beyond _something is wrong, _and was now _something's wrong with her!_

"You okay?" she said trying to catch his eye.

"Yeah," he whispered, drifting back to this reality, the reality that she was here. Lane was here. She cared. She hadn't abandoned him. "Here," he said, pulling out the ring, "wear this."

She gazed at the diamond, sparkling from the lights of the garden around him. "I…I can't," she said, confused about it. What it meant. Emotions ran through her head like an avalanche. But one emotion was absent. Fear. That had to mean something. No fear in accepting this ring. Because she did care for him. She did like him. Even love him.

"Please," his hand extended, the ring in the palm of his hand. She smiled at it and all it meant, and held out her left hand. He placed it on her ring finger and it shrunk down to her skin. She gasped at the sight, unsure if it had really happened.

"Fits perfect," he said, laughing on the inside. She looked up into his eyes, and reached up to his face, and they kissed.

Before long, dinner was over and the six couples were piling into the limo. Electricity was in the air of the car as they anticipated the night ahead. They were dancing in their seats and singing along with the radio. Finally they arrived at the high school and stopped in front of the gym.

The place was beautiful. The student government had chosen a "Royal Homecoming" theme this year, and the gym had been transformed into a palace. Fountains, candles, the chaperones dressed as butlers, the place was perfect. The six couples went strait to the back and to take their official homecoming pictures. After that, Gabriel and Lane separated themselves from the group and found the dessert table. They snacked on royal tarts, and cookies. Gabriel got Lane some punch and they met with some friends. There was laughter and loud talking and bad jokes all around the gym lobby. And the whole time, Gabriel never let go of Lane's waist. Finally, it was time to dance. The duo found their way to the dance floor and let the music take them away. They jumped and twirled and danced like the little kids they were, occasionally taking breaks to dab their wet foreheads.

"Let's go outside," Lane shouted in Gabriel's ear over the music. She followed him past the rest of the high schoolers and their friends and teachers back to the front where a ten-foot fountain sat in front of the doors. They found a spot on the edge of it and sat quietly.

"Having fun?" Gabriel asked, knowing the answer.

"Of course," she said, so open, so happy. She leaned up against his shoulder and he put his arm around her.

"It's so beautiful out," he whispered.

"I wish more of the stars were out," she said, seeing the clouds covering most of the sky. Gabriel smirked secretly. And pulled out his wand with out her noticing.

"_Avorro,_" he whispered as quietly as he could, waving the wand down at his side. Suddenly, a great gust blew from behind them and pushed the clouds away, opening up the night sky. The full moon so close, so bright, Lane gasped at the sight of it.

"Oh my gosh," she huffed. Then she turned to him, her black eyes reflecting the moon, and lifted her face, her lips to meet his. They kissed, softly, but deeply.

Something happened then. Something Gabriel didn't expect. Something he couldn't understand. He shot his eyes open and pulled his face away.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I…I don't know," he said, his attention drifting.

"Did I…"

"No no! It's not you. Something's…Something's wrong here," he said, his eyes scanning the building and the parking lot.

"What is…" she started to say.

"GABRIEL!" William shouted from the door. Gabriel shot up, grabbed Lane's hand and pulled her back to the gym.

"Will," he huffed.

"You alright?" William said, his voice shaking.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Is everything alright?" said Lane, grabbing Gabriel's other hand.

"Lane," he turned to her, "go stand with the other girls. I need to talk to Will."

"Wh…what's going on?" she said now frightened.

"I don't know. Please, just go wait with the others," he gave her a gentle push. She looked at him, worried, and stood with Sarah and Hannah. Just then, Tyler ran up to him.

"What's going on?" Gabriel asked the two of them.

"I don't know!" Tyler tried to whisper, "you felt it too?"

"Yeah!" he said, now frightened himself.

"Something's up," William said softly. The three of them looked around the gym lobby. It was mostly empty accept for their dates and a few other couples and teachers. Most everyone was in the gym dancing.

"Something's…something's wrong. There's something here," Gabriel felt himself start to panic.

Suddenly, an explosion of black and red fire blasted through the doors. The three boys were shot backward on their backs and instantly shot back up, wands in hand. Nothing happened for a split second. Then, four cloaked figures in black hooded robes came walking through the burning hole in the wall. They stopped just on the inside of the lobby and spotted the boys.

"That's him," Gabriel heard one of them hiss. All at once, the four figures raised their own wands, directed right at the boys and without warning attacked.

"_PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" _all the figures shouted at once.

"_Finite Incantatm!" _Gabriel had already shouted, and the curses were blocked.

"_Flipendo!"_ Tyler shouted and two of the men were shot backward and upside down.

"_SECIO!"_ Gabriel shouted his next spell, and the other two shot back even further. _"EXCIPIO!_" he shouted next, waving his wand in a circle. The flames followed his wand, like he was conducting them at an orchestra, and twirled like a cyclone. He twirled his wand back behind his head and then shot it forward along with his other hand, and the flames burst back out the door toward the black figures in the parking lot.

Tyler and William had already grabbed their dates when Gabriel had reached Lane. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into the gym. All the other students had detected the explosion and were in a haze.

"GABE!" he heard Lane scream, her hand shaking in his grasp. But then, he heard something that scared him more than her shriek.

"_FIEND FYRE!"_

Another explosion burst through the gym walls, and a twenty foot tall bear, made of black and red fire, roared through the building. All the students went running and screaming in all directions. The bear spotted the boys and charged them.

Gabriel focused down. He spotted something; the fire had set off the gym sprinkler system.

"_AGUA CUEME!" _he shouted, his wand pointed at the head of the charging bear. All at once, in one split second, the water from the sprinklers, both in the air and on the ground, gathered to one spot in the center of the gym right in front of the bear, and the water burst into a twenty-foot tall owl. The bear was shot backward, it's fire subdued. The owl, a perfect resemblance of Jasper, made completely of water, screeched and jumped into the air, its wings spread. The bear roared at the bird whose talons were aimed at its head, and the water bird exploded drenching the fire bear, and both were destroyed completely.

Then, the four figures ran into the room through the gaping hole, and spotted the boys. Gabriel's wand was still pointed to the center of the room where the bird had appeared.

"GABRIEL!" William shouted spotting the men.

"DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" one of the figures hissed.

"_IMPEARIO!"_ he heard one of the figures shout.

"_CRUCIO!"_ Tyler shouted back and an explosion of red and yellow light burst in the center of the gym where the curses met.

"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" William shouted.

"WE HAVE TO STOP THEM FIRST!" Tyler yelled back.

"_LOCOMOTO ROCK!"_ the figures were shouting. Rock and rubble from the explosion were being thrown at the kids now.

"_EXPLUSO! EXPLUSO!"_ Gabriel shouted, destroying the rocks before they could cause harm.

"_STUPIFY!"_ shouted Tyler, but the jinx was deflected. Two of the men began to charge.

"_IMPEDIMENTA!"_ William said and they were knocked to the side.

"THEY'RE JUST KIDS!" One of them hissed again. Gabriel saw it was the taller figure in the middle of the group. He must have been the leader.

"_SECIO!"_ Gabriel shouted, and the man was shot back and up against the far wall of the gym lobby.

"_INCENDIO!" _a cloaked man hissed, and a ball of fire shot from his wand. William jumped in front of the group and stuck his wand out. Just as the ball of fire was about to hit, William waved his wand with great resistance and redirected the fire to the side. By then the other three men had regrouped with the other.

Two of the men casted wordless spells at the group, and Gabriel joined William at his side. The two of them deflected the blue-grey spells wordlessly and casted jinxes of their own. The men deflected them just as the other two casted two more.

"_INCENDIO!_" one shouted while the other casted a Cruciatice Curse. Gabriel deflected the curse with wand just barley while Tyler deflected the fireball just as William had.

"THIS HAS TO END NOW!" William shouted at the other two. Gabriel had a sudden idea. He focused hard on the four men as one target and shouted for all to hear,  
>"<em>REDUCTO!"<em>

The men vanished with a snap before the spell had a chance to hit, and that was exactly what Gabriel was hopping for. He grabbed Lane's hand, "follow me!" and the others did. He ran out the back door, down the gym hallway, out the double doors, and stopped in front of the pool.

"If we disapperate, could they follow us?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know," William huffed, exhausted.

"Lane," Gabriel turned to her, "I need you to run."  
>"What?" she stuttered, her whole being in shock.<p>

"Take the other girls and run out to the parking lot with the other students."

"I! I can't! I need to stay with you!" she began to cry.

"No! They are after us! Not you! You have to go!"

"But I can't!"

"Sarah! You have to go! Hannah! You guys have to go!" he turned to the other girls.

"Listen to him," William said, "they're not after you guys.

"GO!" Gabriel shouted pushing all three girls towards the parking lot where the other students were screaming and running. Lane looked back at him, her face wet with tears. He looked longingly at her, unable to think. Then William grabbed his arm and the three of them had vanished.

They appereated back to the entrance of Donarium.

"_Fidus_!"

"_Pax_!"

"_Eros!_"

Gabriel moved the branches aside and they ran to their tree house.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Tyler was pacing the floor.

"What the hell was that?" William directed the question at no one.

"They were after us," Gabriel said more controlled than the others.

"Who was that?" Tyler was in hysterics.

"Why were they after us?" Gabriel was in his own little world.

"They had to be from the Capitolium," William said to him.

"What?" Gabriel said.

"They were wearing the Capitolium crest on their robes. Did you see it?"

"No," he said.

"Something's wrong. AND MOM IS THERE!" Tyler suddenly realized.

"OH GOD!" Gabriel groaned. Something was wrong. And he had thought she had abandoned him.

Just then, a rumbble shot through the air. They three boys all looked to the window where they could see the entrance to their field. No one said anything for a moment.

"They followed us," William whispered.

"They must be tracking our magic," Gabriel said.

"They can do that? I didn't know they could do that!" Tyler almost shouted.

"Mom said something about that once. But then she said that we'd never have to worry about it," he whispered.

"COOH!" the three boys shot around at the startling noise. A large black owl sat in the other window.

"Kelly?" Gabriel said.

"Who?" Tyler asked.

"My mom's owl."

"Cooh," it swooned. That's when Gabriel noticed something at its feet.

"What's this boy?"

Another rumble, louder than before, shook the tree.

"They're trying to get in," William said softly.

"Can they?" Tyler said shaking.

"No, not without us letting them in. The protection spell around this place is too strong. That entrance is the only one. And they need us to let them in."

"What's this?" Gabriel said holding up a small card. The two other boys came to his side.

"What is that?" Tyler asked.

"It's a picture," Gabriel said. It was an old picture of a huge house almost like a castle. There was one tower and the ceiling was laid with old black tile. The walls of the mansion were white and covered in English ivy. A cobble stone pathway lead up to a huge set of double doors that sat below a large lantern. The house was two stories tall (though the ceiling inside was easily twenty feet tall on both stories), accept for the tower that added another story, and was in the shape of an "L". There was a small, white fountain in front of the house that sat in the middle of a small lawn. The white house was framed in trees that reached another ten feet above the roof and shaded it from the sky.

"I know this place," Tyler whispered.

"Really?" William asked.

"Yeah," he grabbed the photo from William's hand.

"What's that?" Gabriel said pointing to the back of the photo. Tyler turned it over.

It was a note that said "_Go Here."_

"It's a note from mom!" Gabriel said. There was another rumble.

"Tyler, can you apperate us there?" William said grabbing his shoulder.

"I…I think so. I don't know. I don't even know where it is exactly," he shuttered.

"Doesn't matter! Just as long as you can get us here!" William pointed to the mansion.

"We could get splinched," Gabriel pointed out.

"You can do it Tyler! She wouldn't have sent us the photo and expected us to get there if we couldn't," he huffed. There was another rumble, louder than all the others.

"We have to go now! Now or get captured!" Gabriel began to shout.

"Grab on!" Tyler said. They did. He took one long last look at the picture, and closed his eyes, and they boys were thrown into a tube less than half the size of their bodies.

The disapperation was longer and more uncomfortable than any other time before. They twisted and turned through invisible tubes across space and the fabric of reality till a picture much like the one in Tyler's hand appeared.

Gabriel gasped for air, Tyler fell to the ground heaving, about to vomit, and William almost fell backward.

"Never…again…" William said dizzy, trying to control his movements. Slowly the boys took in their surroundings. Mostly trees on all sides, a broken blacktop beneath their feet, and a house, no, a castle, whose picture that Tyler clenched in his hand gave no justice to, that towered above them. It was huge. Two stories, the tower on the right end of the house reached to a third above their heads, and the trees were even taller. Built like an "L" just like the picture so the right wing of the house jetted out toward the broken road where they stood, and framed the lawn that separated the boys from the place. Dark ivy swirled and stretched along the strange, white, plastered walls of the house, curled up the tower and around every steel frame of the windows on the front. Three, tall French doors complete with balconies sat on the left side of the house, all black like the inside of a dark mansion. And there, in the center of it all, were the tall, wooden double doors of the entrance, and the oversized lantern that hung above it.


	8. The Castle

8. The Castle

Gabriel was the first to move. Slowly he walked along the broken road up to the long cobble stone pathway that stretched its way to three brick steps and then the doors. The house was dark, asleep, but the lantern was alive, just barley, with the faint glow of an orange light. Tyler and William took their places beside Gabriel, William at his left and Tyler at his right. The three boys stood their for a second, waiting for something. Something to edge them forward or send them away. Inside the house was dark from what they could tell by the large French windows on the left wing and the oversized windows on the right. The full moon bounced off the white plastered outer walls in such a way that the house appeared to be something of a mirage.

"What do we have to lose?" William whispered, just audible enough for the others to hear.

Gabriel stepped forward and the others followed on his heels. They walked the cold stone path up to the monster house, its dark windows uninviting and dead. Finally they made it to the front steps. Three large steps led up to the foot of the doorway. Gabriel climbed them, more unsure than ever, then stopped just in front of the entrance. Two knockers sat on each door. He took a deep breath and just as he reached up Tyler grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" he half whispered, half screamed.

"What?" Gabriel said harshly, adrenaline still pumping through his body from the fight.

"There's a doorbell," he said shaken. Gabriel glared at him. William was annoyed too. Gabriel reached over and pushed on the small white button on the side of the house.

"_DIIIIIING DOOOOOOOOOOOONG," _reverberated through the house, but nothing happened. They boys stood their, looking like mice against the hugeness of the place. For only a second, but what seemed like ages they stood there, waiting, to afraid to ring the bell again. Until, a click, faint but distinct, sounded from the other side of the doors. Then a squeak, and the sound of the wood resisting to open. The wood wined so, you'd have thought it hadn't been open in ages. The door cracked open, and nothing but black shown through. Then it opened wider and wider and wider till the faint outline of a man appeared, tall, broad, and sharp edged. The man took a step forward and the sound of metal clanked as his foot landed.

The light of the moon glistened off of an armored boot, and as the man stepped forward, it glistened off armored legs, and chest and arms and helmet. A great suit of armor stood before the boys, tall and strong. Glaring strait forward, like it hadn't noticed them at all. Then it's head tilted downward, it's face covered by the helmet, and watched them for a moment. The boys too surprised and stricken to move. Then all at once, it reached down with it's right hand, grabbed the hilt of it's sword, pulled it from it's sheath, and raised it above it's head. And just before it had a chance to bring the blade down on Gabriel's skull someone yelled,

"ARNOLD!"

The suit striated up and seamed to shiver.

"What are you doing? What do you THINK you are doing? MOVE! Move move move move move! I said move!"

The suit of armor took a step or two back, lowed the sword and re-sheathed it. Behind it, was a rather small, skinny and angular sort of old man with a potbelly, in a red bathrobe.

"Move you worthless piece of junk! Gosh, every time. Get back there! GO! Go stand on your step!" he said in an old, raspy voice whose tone didn't really match what he was saying. It was a much to whimsical voice, old and friendly, with that sound that made it seem like he should clear his throat.

The man pointed behind him and the suit moved mechanically back to where the man pointed.

"Every time. EVERY time. I'm so sorry," he turned to the boys, his grey come over sticking strait up. "So very sorry, ARNOLD HAS NO MANNERS! It's nothing personal. He tries to kill anyone who comes to the door! You should be here at Halloween! HA!"" he turned back to the suit and then back to the boys. "How can I help you?" he sang.

The boys were silent, the color gone from their faces. William's eye's fixed on the suit of armor that now stood motionless far into the house, Gabriel's eyes on the man, trying to come to his senses, and Tyler's eyes wandering every which way, about to faint. The old man just watched them, his eyebrows slowly rising up.

"I…I…" Gabriel started to say, "I'm G…Gabriel Locket…"

The man's gaze was expressionless for a split moment, then, as if his face could get any more dramatic, his eyebrows shot up into his remaining hairline, his eyes widened to the size of golf balls and his mouth dropped to the floor.

"GABRIEL? G….G…GABRIEL? LOCKET? GABE? ISSABELL'S BOY? MY ISSABELL'S BOY?"

"Ye…yeah," was all he could say.

"I…I'm William. William Robinson," William said softly.

"Tyler Tombs," Tyler said robotically.

"Wh…wha…all of you? Will? And Tyler? Oh my lord! Oh lord! Oh my word! You're all here! All three of you! Oh please! Please come in! Come in! Come come come! In!" The old man pulled the door open even more and let the boys in who followed the orders slowly.

Gabriel led the way while the others followed, still grief stricken.

He led the boys through the door into a great entryway. The ceiling was easily twenty feet tall and just in front of them was a large glass table with an arrangement of flowers on top. Beyond that, was a grand spiraling staircase that led to the next floor. The entry hall was lined with four, great, square columns pearl white from the moonlight shining in through the doorway. To the left, was a small set of stairs that led down into what looked like a great living room area, (more like a ballroom) and to the right, a narrow hallway.

The suit of armor walked slowly to their left and marched up on to a platform where an oversized shield stood strait up. It moved behind the shield and grasped it with two hands, freezeing in time. Tyler kept his eye on it.

"Oh I can't believe you are here! I CAN'T believe it! Joy will have a heart attack! Just kill over and die with happiness! Can't believe it! Can't cant cant!" He led the boys to the right, into the narrow hallway where a set of huge double doors was closed at the end of it. Around them were sets of unlit candelabras attached to the walls. The man waved his hand and they lit ferociously. Gabriel could feel the heat as they burst into flame. The house was cold, but somehow alive inside. The man waved his hand again and the double doors opened inward to revile a grand, circular dinning room.

"Please come into the kitchen! You boys must be hungry. You look hungry. You like carrot juice? I make some good carrot juice. Well I don't make it, the juicer does. But I put the carrots in!" the man laughed at his own sorry joke. Gabriel studied the man closely now, now that he wasn't running for his life. The man talked slowly and distinctively. Thinking about every word before he said it. He had a smile on his face that would make you think that he knew something you didn't. Like the next thing he was about to say was the punch line to a long joke. He walked with a small limp in his left leg, and with his shoulders hunched over, always leaning forward. He had huge pale blue eyes, and a large round face, dramatic and full of character. His large friendly eyes, bulging and tired, were surrounded by blue lines and spots that sprinkled across his skin. His hair, faded and grey, thin across his scalp, stood up every which way, swaying in the breeze as he walked. His lips were pale and thin, his nose small and wrinkled. Two oversized ears sat far back on his skull, weathered and pale, twitching to every sound. His hands were weathered and his fingers long. The man glowed with experience and frailty.

"You have a…huge house," Tyler said, his words echoing through the emptiness. With every step, echoes told the ghosts where they were going and who was talking and how many were there.

"Well I have a huge family," the man said slowly.

He led the boys through the dinning hall where a large, long, glass table sat in the center of the room. Directly across from the double doors, was a wall of frosted glass, covered in designs and studs, where a small glass door sat in the center of the wall. To the left of the dinning table, was a large window that covered almost the entire wall, and between the window and the glass wall, was a large fireplace carved into the house. The entire interworking of the place had a strange feeling of small largeness, like it was somehow smaller than it was large, or larger than it was small. The hallways, tall but narrow, the rooms open but filled, everything about the place seemed a contradiction.

The old man led them to the right, past what looked like a small breakfast nook that had a large window that looked out to the front of the house. They walked through an open doorway, past a tiny room of cabinets and wooden cases and a small sink to their left. He led them through another open doorway, into a small room with a high ceiling; the kitchen. In the center of the room, was a small, wooden, table with four metal chairs of green cushions. Everything was wood and metal, more wood in some places and more metal in others. Like the architect couldn't decide which he liked best.

"Sit down! Sit down! Sit sit sit," the man motioned to the chairs and they slid open for the boys. The man waved his hand over the stove and one of the burners lit. He grabbed the small blue kettle, placed it in the sink, and turned on the faucet.

"This place is huge," Tyler said again softly.

"Oh you boys look terrible," the man said turning to them. He turned off the sink and placed the kettle on the burner. "And when I say that I am comparing you to me. And this face hasn't seen the fountain of youth in quite a while." The man laughed again.

"You…you know my mom?" Gabriel said, raising his voice.

"All of your mom's actually," he said, his attention on the kettle. "We're like family," he said with that smile like he was hiding something, and you would have to dig to find it out. "Anyone for carrot juice? It's got some hm hm hmmm"

"How do you know her? Them?" William asked.

"Well, I kinda, raised them," he said.

"What?" Tyler said. The man looked at them smiling his knowing grin.

"I…I uh…Who…what did you say your name was?" William asked.

"Well I didn't," the man said, watching them closely, obviously wanting them to figure something out.

"You raised them?" Gabriel said slowly. The man's smile grew. "You're their father."

The other two looked at the man closely.

"You can call me Grandpa," he said plainly.

"Grandpa," Tyler said slowly. It was such a strange word. Gabriel never knew the word. It never had a meaning, a face to it. David's family was dead, and he had never met is mother's outside of Aunt Heather and Ginger. So he did have a family after all.

"Grandpa," William echoed after a moment.

"Grandpa Laflor," the man said.

"Laflor?" Gabriel repeated.

"Your mothers maiden name," he said looking deeply into the boy's eyes. Then he tore them away, "Way Laflor. But you can just call me Grandpa. The other's do."

"Grandpa," William concluded.

"Why haven't we…heard from you? Or seen you or anything?" William asked.

"Well, for your protection," the man said, a hint of that knowing look in his eye.

"WAY? Whose there? Not one of your FRIENDS again is it? It's almost one in the morning!" a loud, raspy, woman's voice yelled. A somewhat large, short, elderly woman appeared from around the wall next to the door. She had short, grey hair, large, gold glasses, and a sweet face. Her nightgown flowed around her like silk in the wind, and the tiredness in her eyes had the hint of a permanent smile. She spotted the three boys sitting in the plush chairs, still in their homecoming tuxes, and immediately recognized them. "Who's this?"

"Boys, this is Grandma," Grandpa said sweetly. The woman already had tears in her eyes.

"Oh boys! OH THANK GOODNESS!" she shouted, her voice as raspy and horse as the old man's. She grabbed all three of them in her short arms and kissed them each several times. "Oh boys! It has been so long! Oh you're so grown! Oh look at you! Look at you! Oh William! So cute! And your eyes! Just like Ginger's! And Tyler! OH so strong! So tall! And Gabriel! Gabriel. Oh Gabe. So handsome!" She squeezed him so tight all the air escaped his lungs.

"Okay okay! Let the poor boys go! They've obviously had a rough night," the old man said, spying their ragged cloths.

"Oh look at you! You are all so grown," she said sitting down across from Gabriel, tears in her eyes, "So big from when we last saw you!"

"When was that?" Gabriel said.

"Oh the last time I saw Tyler was when you were four, on Christmas, oh and William you were just two, on your birthday I think. And Gabe…Gabriel," she looked at him so longingly, like a long lost friend, "when…when you were born." They watched each other for a while, Gabriel trying to place her familiar yet alien face. He smiled. "You are so handsome. Oh you look just like your father! Your eyes are just like his! With the gold and everything!"

That struck him back. Never had he been compared to his father. Not even once. It made him angry. How did he even remotely look like that man? And yeah he had black eyes like his dad, but that was the only trait that seemed to have been passed on. He felt like throwing up.

"You all look so tired," the old man broke the silence.

"I don't think I could go to sleep just yet," Tyler wined.

"I know," William agreed. Gabriel did too. The adrenaline was still running through his body.

"Oh you boys look terrible," the woman said, "What happened?"

"We were…attacked," Gabriel said, eyeing the woman.

"Attacked?" she said surprised, her gaze drifting.

"By whom?" the man said serious.

"They were cloaked, but I think they were from the Capitolium," William said revisiting his thoughts.

"The Capitolium?" the man said suddenly surprised, his eyes met the woman's.

"Where are your mothers?" Grandma said, her eyes coming back to the boys.

"They left for the Capitolium Monday," Tyler said to her.

"Where's Rose?" Grandpa said, looking Gabriel in the eye.

"I haven't heard from her in a while. Not since my birthday," he said.

The old man and the woman watched each other for a while, their conversation silent.

"I think it's time we get you boys into bed, you've had a terrible day," he said rising from his seat on the counter.

"Yes, you poor things," Grandma said after.

"We can talk about everything in the morning once you have had your rest," he motioned for the boys to follow him and they did without protesting.

He turned around the wall where the woman had appeared from and a tall, yet thin sort of staircase sat before them, hidden between the walls that separated it from the kitchen and the front of the house. They climbed the dark, windowless stairs up to the second floor. The man opened a cracked door and led the way into a thin hallway with wood floors instead of tiled ones like the floor below. The walls were close on all sides and covered in strange paintings and murals. There was a door closed and locked to the boy's right that looked like it led to the tower and a second door behind them. The man led the boys to the right down the thin hallway, past a window that looked out to the front of the house and the front lawn and the pathway and the spot where they had apperated. From this point of the house, it looked even bigger. He led them until they hit an opening, a room, surrounded in bookshelves and models of ships and planes and trains, and statues and things that looked so old and so used and so misplaced. There were a few doors around the room, and a large window that looked over the front of the house.

He led them forward through the library, through a pair of double doors to a landing where the spiral staircase led too. Grandpa came to a stop in front of a tall, narrow doorway.

"In here," the man said.

"The beds are all made," the woman said startling the boys who had forgotten she was there.

"Yes I know," the man said annoyed. He opened the door to a huge room, with nothing but three beds: a twin bed, and a bunk bed. The walls were white and blank, the floor covered in a white carpet. A small door at the end of the wall on the right that was cracked open, and the reflection of a bathroom mirror shown through. The back wall was something rather unique. It was painted to look like a stone wall, and on one side was a tall, glass window that opened outward in two areas. In part of the top half of the mirror, was a green, painted, fat, dragon. The poor thing had been startled awake from the creaking floors. It yawned widely, showing off its bright sharp teeth. It stood up in the window on all four legs and arched it's fat back.

"That is Sally," Grandpa said pointing to the glass dragon. It spotted them, looked the boys over, one by one, and once it got bored curled back up, turned away and seemed to fall asleep.

"I think I can find some of Aster's old cloths for you to sleep in," the old woman said.

"That's alright, we can manage," Gabriel said, feeling uncomfortable.

"Well you can't sleep in those," she said opening up a small closet. The boys looked over themselves, realizing they were still in their black tuxes.

The old woman pulled out three pairs of differently colored sweats. One was a faded blue, another grey with holes in the legs, and another white with black stains. Then she pulled out some old tee shirts, all three covered in tears and holes. She handed them to Tyler and then turned and stood in the doorway with her husband. They looked so perfect together.

"Well…good night. We will let you get some sleep. It's been a crazy day, I'm sure, and we will get it all settled tomorrow. Yes we will talk about it then. Don't feel bad about sleeping in or anything. Everyone will still be here when you wake up," he said smiling at them faintly.

"Yes they will be so excited to see all of you," she said after.

"Who?" William stuttered.

"Oh the family!" she began, "All of them! Tomorrow just happens to be Lyla's birthday! Everyone will be over around one or two."

"…Oh," William said.

"Don't worry them about that," the old man tried to whisper.

"Well you brought it up," she retorted.

"I did not."

"Yes you did! When you said everyone would still be here!"

"I didn't say that." He started to shut the door

"Oh Way! Yes you did!"

"Well I didn't mean it like that." The door shut.

All three boys stood there dumbfounded. Silently they undressed and slid into the old cloths.

"These are huge!" Tyler said.

"Who is Aster, I wonder?" William said.

"Probably an Uncle or something," Gabriel said sitting on the bottom bunk of the bed.

"I call top bunk!" Tyler yelled.

"SHHHH!" William hushed him.

"I don't know if I can sleep," Tyler said already under the covers.

"I am sure you can. You could sleep through an avalanche," Gabriel snuffed.

"This place is kinda creepy," William said looking around, keeping his eye on the door.

"Do you think that knight will try and come find us?" Tyler said too loudly.

"I'll keep first watch," Gabriel said, the sleep sounding in his voice.

"Who do you think those men were?" William said to Gabriel.

"I have no idea," he said quietly.

"Do you think they know our moms?" Tyler said yawning.

"Well they knew us, kinda," William said. He slid his feet under the covers.

Gabriel looked over the small dragon, breathing softly. He looked out the window and all he could see was the black outlines of trees and what looked like mountains in the distance. "Where are we?" he whispered.

"I think we're still in California," William said yawning, "the climate is just a tad cooler than Loomis. Maybe…bay area? Like San Fransico?"

The sound of Tyler's faint snoring shot sleep into Gabriel's eyes. He could no longer stand it, even if he was in some old creepy house with moving statues, painted dragons, and old people. He slid under his own covers and relaxed into the feathered pillow. He turned to say something to William, but could see he was on the edge of sleep, fighting to stay awake, and losing. How could they fall asleep so easily? But then Gabriel felt it, the stillness, and safeness of the bed, of the entire house. It reminded him of his mother's house. Gabriel closed his eyes and tried to picture his mom, tried to see her face, see if she was okay. She turned to look at him, the hint of a sad smile on her face and her eyes. And just as she opened her mouth to say something, Gabriel drifted off, and left the world of awake behind.


	9. Meeting the Family

9. Meeting the Family

Gabriel shot strait up, and knocked is head on the bed above. For a moment he couldn't remember where he was. His breath fast and shallow, his face wet with sweat. The he remembered; the knight, the old man, the woman, the castle. Grandpa and Grandma. He came about his wits then. Grandpa and Grandma. Such a strange thought. Family.

He looked about the room, Tyler was still snoring, but William was already awake. He was outside of the window on a porch that Gabriel hadn't seen before. Gabriel placed his feet down on the cold hard wood floor and silently walked toward the window. Sally, the small green dragon watched him with big red eyes, its face full of annoyance. Gabriel pushed open the glass door and stood beside William who was leaning over the railway, his long, dark, messy hair hanging over his eyes. He looked deep in thought.

Gabriel looked over the land, now covered in fog and the smell of pine trees. Directly below them was a brick pathway that led around the entire back of the house. There was a wide, brick staircase that led down to a huge, deep pool, with a rickety diving board and small, round spa. Beyond the pool was a black fence that fenced off the entire property. And just on the other side of the fence was a vast plane of dead grass that slopped down to a far off tree line. The plane was spotted with three or four dying fruit trees, placed in such a way that made the plane appear to be some sort of old orchard. Two of them were apple trees, a pear tree and another so completely dead, and without the slightest trace of green on it, Gabriel couldn't tell what it was.

He scanned the dead orchard but couldn't see past the far off tree line that seemed to mark off the end of the property. The land was so big, so far, easily three acres. He tried to see past the trees, but the fog was two dense all he could make out was the outline of more trees. He raised his head and made out the outline of distance hills with power lines on them.

"What time is it?" Gabriel said, feeling weird about how awake he was.

"Around eleven," William said dryly.

"Really? Can't believe I'm awake," he said leaning down on the rail. "How long have you been up?"

"Since nine or so."

"What?"

"I couldn't sleep very well."

"Did I keep you awake?" Gabriel had always been the culprit to his cousins not sleeping well. With his late night terrors and all. Tossing and turning, the occasional scream.

"No not just that. Though you did keep the dragon up," William said. Gabriel turned to see her, glaring at him. "Way…um…Grandpa has been up for hours."

"I am not getting used to that anytime soon," Gabriel said dryly. William looked down. "What's he been doing up?"  
>"I don't know, he went for a walk through the…grassland there…and came back and has been out over there," he said pointing to their far right. Gabriel saw a second building beyond the end of the house. It was only one story, had two large double doors like the front of the castle, and was covered in ivy.<p>

"What's in there?" said Gabriel.

"I think it's a barn actually. I can hear horses sometimes. And some other noises I don't know what the heck make."

Gabriel laughed silently. He breathed in the fresh air; the simple, relaxing, fresh air. Then the two of them got Tyler up, got dressed in some strange cloths that Grandma had obviously laid out for them, and headed downstairs for lunch.

After some trouble finding their way down stairs, they saw the old woman, their grandma, in the kitchen.

"You're up! Oh good morning! You find your way downstairs alright?" The woman was wearing a black blouse, with black slacks. The blouse was dotted in jewels and lace. She wore long, diamond earrings, and black shoes.

"Yeah," William half lied.

Tyler yawned rudely, still half asleep, "I'm starved."

"Tyler!" William growled.

"I have breakfast all laid out for you. Eggs and bacon and some fruit ok?" the woman said sweetly

"Sounds perfect," Gabriel said smiling up at her. The boys sat down and at the same seats they had just hours before, and their grandma served them. They ate ferociously. In seconds the bacon and eggs were gone, and the woman was already cooking up more. She waved her wand over the unbroken eggs and they rose up, and hovered over to the bowl. She tapped each one of them and they cracked open perfectly, the yoke spilling out of the shell. She made more bacon and some toast and even brought out a small coffee cake. They ate and ate for a while, not talking, while the old woman talked for them.

"Oh I am so excited for you to meet everyone! They will be so happy that you're here! So happy! We haven't seen Rose or Heather or Ginger in years! Years! Oh the poor things! What they've been going through. All for you three. You poor things. All because of us!" None of the boys were really listening to her. Just eating the especially good food. There was something about it, something extra good about it. Gabriel recognized it: magic. It tasted just like his mom's food. Then grandpa walked in the back door.

"Oh good morning!" he said slowly, deliberately.

"Good morning!" the three of them sang, food in their mouths.

Through the open door, Gabriel could see the back of the house. The road where they had appeared from last night swung around here to a large open space. On the other side of the road, Gabriel could see the building he could only see the corner of from his room. It was much like the castle, but with four large doors. The two, double doors he had seen before on the far left side, and then three huge, black, barn doors spaced on the front of the building. It was a barn.

"I hope you slept well."

"Yes!" Tyler said, thumbs up. Grandpa laughed and then kissed his wife.

"Violet is on her way," Grandma said to him.

"Oh good. Sendak can help me get everything ready," he said walking off to the rest of the house.

"Now don't go disappearing!" she yelled after him. He didn't answer.

"Thank you so much for breakfast," William said finishing first.

"Yes thank you," Gabriel said next. Tyler mumbled something and gave a thumbs up.

"Oh of course! You poor things!" She went over and hugged and kissed each one of them.

Just then, a soft rumble, like the ones the boys heard at the tree house, sounded through the house. Then there was aloud 'CRACK' and 'BOOM' and a second rumble that shook the castle.

"OH! Violet's here!" she walked over to the back door and swung it wide open. Gabriel and the other two leaned over in their chairs to peek out the door, and there, in the middle of the back road, was a slender woman with short, black hair, a tall, built man with a baldhead, and four small children that stood between them. All six of them were holding hands, and dressed in rather strange formal wear.

"Hi!" the woman said, trying to climb out the door and down the steps.

"GRANDMA!" the four kids rushed at her. Two boys, one the eldest and one the youngest, and two girls whose ages were in between.

"Hi kiddos," she said hugging and kissing each of them. "Oh you look so handsome in your suit Cyris! Oh Beeza and Veena. Look at you're dresses! So pretty!"

The youngest jumped and jumped. He was only one or two, just learning to walk. He jumped again and she caught him, pulling him up into her arms. By now, the adults had reached her. They exchanged hellos and they each hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. She handed the little one off to the woman who Gabriel guessed was Violet, and Grandma said something to her that he couldn't hear. The woman grew stiff. The man's eyes widened. Then, they both shot a look at the house and saw the boys leaning over in their chairs.

"Gabriel? Tyler? William?" Violet said in disbelief. The three boys got up from their chairs and walked to stand in the doorway. Violet was already there.

"Hi," Gabriel said shyly.

"Oh my gosh! Look at you! You are all so big!" Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh I haven't seen you since you were all babies! Oh lord! Oh look at them Sendak!"

"You're huge!" was all he said.

"Oh you don't even know who I am! Oh gosh look at me! I'm your aunt Violet. You're mother's sister," she said in a high, sweet voice. She was rather skimpy, jumpy, bubbly and full of life. All he could think of was Sier. She was like a life-sized Sier.

"Hi," was all Gabriel could say. "I'm Gabriel, this is Tyler and William."

"Yes of course! Oh gosh I haven't seen you three in ages! Oh my gosh!" She hugged them all at once and then stood back and starred. The woman was nothing more than a twig. Her long legs and long arms slender and pale. Her face was sweet with deep set, black eyes, framed by short, bobbed, black hair. Her eyes and smile reminded Gabriel of his mother. But she looked young, too young for four kids.

"This is Sendak. My husband. Your uncle," She said quickly.

"Nice to meet you," William said, shaking the man's hand. He was very strong and also too young for four kids.

"And this is Cyris, Beeza, Veena, and Chriss. Guys, these are your older cousins," she said to the little ones. None of them said anything, only looked up at the boys. "Cyris is thirteen, Beeza is nine, Veena six, and Chris is almost two! Two next month!" Gabriel looked over each of them, smiling widely. Cyris, a rather inverted middle schooler, Beeza and Veena, happy glowing girls, and Chris a bright eyed baby. "Are your parent's here with you?" The woman said after a moment.

They all hesitated. "Uh, no," William finally said. "Just us. Our mom's are in Boston."

"Oh that's too bad," she said. "Would have been nice to see them. Just decided to stop by on your own then?" She laughed awkwardly.

"Well…" William started to say.

"Oh come inside!" Their grandmother interrupted. "I'm just getting started on lunch. Everyone should be arriving within the hour or so," she huffed, easily exhausted already. Grandma was so old, so fragile, every little movement took up every bit of energy she could afford.

She pushed her way through the door and into the kitchen. The children, all accept for Cyris, ran off laughing into the rest of the house. Sendak and Violet followed the woman into the kitchen and set their things down on the table. Just then, a large roar, like the roar of a fire starting, blew through the doors from the next room, the dinning room.

"Oh! I think that's Jasmine. She said that they were coming early too," The woman huffed, a mixture of exhaustion and utter joy filled the woman's tired face, filled her eyes. She bent over the sink, wand in hand, working with some lettuce. She waved her white wand that was bent in two places like an orchestra conductor, playing music with the food.

"WE'RE HERE!" a rather shrill voice sang from the next room.

"HELLO," a man's voice boomed.

"VIN'S HERE!" Cyris sang out, running to where to voices came from.

"Hey Cyris!" the man's voice said

"CYRIS!" the voice of a little boy said.

"C'mon!" Gabriel heard Cyris say.

"WOOH HOO!" The shrill voice said again.

"IN THE KITCHEN!" Violet said to the couple in the next room. A moment later, a man and a woman, both just a bit older looking than Violet and Sendak, came through the doorway with huge grins on their faces. The woman was shorter than Violet, but a year or two older. She was much fuller than Violet, her arms and legs strong and healthy. Her hair was long and brown and swirled in bright ringlets. Her face was full and almost swallowed up in her grin. Gabriel was starting to see a family resemblance.

The woman's smile disappeared when she saw the three boys standing in the kitchen, and morphed into a sort of elongated 'O'.

"This is Tyler, William, and Gabriel, Jasmine. Boys, this is your aunt Jasmine, and your Uncle Maple," Violet said. Jasmine stood their dumbfounded.

"You're here?" she whispered. "OH MY GOSH!" Gabriel realized that this was going to be a regular thing.

The woman threw her hands up into the air and leaped over to them. She grabbed each one of them and hugged them roughly. "Look at them!" she shouted. She had a crazed look in her eye, like she was studying everything, every movement and every object. Her eyes wandering from the boys to the ceiling, constantly loosing focus and gaining it back just as instantly, like it was never gone.

"I know! Isn't it incredible?" Violet said.

"Just remarkable!" said their grandmother.

"Oh mom! They're here! They're here!" Jasmine said hugging them again.

"Alone too," Violet said, curiosity in her voice.

"Alone? Your mom's aren't here?" She said, her hand clenched down on Gabriel's shoulder. He shook his head. He felt so funny, all these people, all of them shorter than he, trying to hug him awkwardly.

"Oh you guys were just babies last time I saw you," she said turning to them.

"Yeah, that's what we keep hearing," Gabriel said to her.

"This is my husband, Maple," she said turning to him. She lost focus for a moment and then came back. "Maple this is Tyler, Heather and Roy's son. And this is William, Ginger and Jonathan's son. And this…this is Gabriel. Rose's boy." She said it so sweetly. Violet stood beside her sister.

"Nice to meet all of you," the man said, his voice filling the whole house, "I didn't even know the family till much after you were born. Only met your mother's once." He was very tall, taller than Gabriel. His head covered in dark, thick hair, and he looked like a firefighter the way he was built.

"Nice to meet you," Gabriel said shaking his hand.

"And Vin took off somewhere. He's our son. He's 15," Jasmine said.

"I had no idea how big our family was," Tyler finally spoke.

"Yeah we thought it was only us," William added.

"Oh you have no idea," Sendak spoke up. "I had no idea what I was getting into." He wrapped his arms around Violet and kissed her.

"Oh please, sit down boys," their grandmother ordered. The boys did and Jasmine took a spot as well.

"How are the girls?" Jasmine said. Gabriel guessed she was talking about his mom and aunts.

"They're in Boston," he said, not really wanting to explain anything.

"Oh on work?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"What about you guys though, what have you been up to?" Violet asked.

"School…I guess," Tyler said. Gabriel was embarrassed. Of course three teenagers would say the only thing they've been up to is school.

"Oh Cobblecot?" Jasmine said suspiciously, she had been watching something on the ceiling, but shot back to them now.

"No, just…high school," Tyler said.

"Oh good! Nobody that goes into Cobblecot comes out alive," she laughed. Slowly she started to drift away as she spoke, her words loosing meaning. "I was going to go to Salem School for Witches before the Capitolium shut it down. To bad too. Was supposed to be an amazing school. But, no one here has gone to Cobblecot. Just your mothers." Her grey eyes focused on something far away.

"Why is it so horrible there? I mean is it just because it's so controlled?" Tyler asked.

"You kidding?" Maple said, "that place is a hell hole! Graduation, if you survive to that point, means immediate enslavement at the Capitolium."

"I worked there for a while after I graduated," sad Sendak. "Was horrible. Would never go back."

"Wow," Tyler said under his breath.

"Why did they go? Our moms?" said William. The adults grew quiet, turning to each other. There was the glow of guilt on their Grandmother's face. Just then, another rolling rumble shook through the house.

"Daisy and Brian are here!" Grandma shouted. "And Iris is with them. Where are the boys?" Gabriel and the other two stuck their heads out the door and spotted the three adults holding hands in the middle of the street. They let their hands fall to the ground and strutted up to the house. The man who Gabriel guessed was Brian, was much older than the other guys in the kitchen. He had a very small gut, and a sunken face with the smirk of someone who thinks too much of themselves across his mouth. The woman on the left of him, still holding Brian's hand, was slender, much like Violet, and had short, golden hair that curled around her eyes. The other woman was slender, but curvy. She wore a tight fitting black dress and walked so her hips jutted out on either side with every step. Her long, strait, black hair with gold highlights elongated her already long face. She was obviously the eldest of the sisters.

"Iris! Daisy!" Grandma swooned and the woman in black smiled widely.

"Hello! Ahaha!" she laughed in a low, raspy, sultry voice.

"Hi guys!"

"Hi mom!" The other woman said with a happy, sparkly voice.

"Hi mom." The man said with an obvious tone of sarcasm.

"Hi Brian," Grandma said sweetly. "You will never guess who's here!"

"The pope?" Brian said sarcastically. The woman holding his hand rolled her eyes.

"Gabriel, Tyler and William!" Grandma cried out.

"What?" Brian said flatly, and all three of them stopped at the steps. Then all at once ran up and into the house.

"Oh my God." The woman in black, who Gabriel now guessed to be Iris, said flatly. Suddenly she broke out in tears.

"You…you're here!" The second woman, Daisy, said almost in tears.

"Look at them!" Iris said running for the boys and hugging them all at once. "I'm sorry," she said wiping her eyes after she let them go, "it's just been years! Oh my goodness!"

"Oh wow!" Daisy said, taking her time to hug each of them. "Oh you're so big! You were fresh babies when we last saw you!"

"Fresh from the womb," Brian said with a cackle. "Good to see you." He shook each of their hands and stood back to look them over. Gabriel decided he didn't much like him yet.

"You look just like your dad, Gabriel." Iris said shaking her head in disbelief. He decided he didn't like them saying that much either. "Well I'm Iris! The oldest-est!" she said laughing. Her whole domineer glowed with joy.

"I'm Daisy, just a year older than your mom, Gabriel," said Daisy with a wide smile.

"Your Dad and I were roommates in college," Brian said poking Gabriel in the chest. He could see that.

"Where are the boys?" Sendak asked.

"Oh they should be here any moment," Iris said setting her things down. "I just can't believe you're here!" She turned back to the trio.

Gabriel felt so foolish. How did he not know about all these people? They obviously all knew him. Just more reasons to hate his mom right now. Her voice called out to him then, but he put her out with the coldness in his heart.

"Byron is my son…" started Daisy

"Our son," Brian corrected. Daisy gave him a harsh look and then sprang back to her bubbly self.

"Yeah well he's 20, just a few years older than you." She finished, talking only to Gabriel.

"And Axel is 22," Iris said smiling to all of them.

Then, right on cue, a third rumble shook the house and Gabriel spotted his two elder cousins standing in the street. The taller of the two was almost seven feet tall, the other one just a few inches shorter. The taller one had short buzzed hair and a strong, mature face. His shoulders were wide and his chest huge. The sleeves on his shirt looked like they were about to rip from the sheer size of his arms. The shorter one also had short hair, blond but whipping around his head fiercely. His bright blue eyes seemed luminous even in the sunlight. He was built too, but not quite as much as the giant tree next to him.

Both of them glared at the house, their eyes void of emotion or thought. They both strutted toward the house, the taller one walking with a strange sort of silence that made him appear even more mature than he should, while the shorter one suddenly sparked a huge smile that played across his lips and gave him the smug appearance of a schoolboy. Immediately, Gabriel felt he liked the taller one better.

"Oh there they are," Grandma said spotting them before the others. The taller one ducked under the doorway first. He smiled rather warmly at everyone as they each greeted him. The shorter, blond one smiled a little too big and hugged everyone a little too aggressively.

"Axel," Iris said too the taller one, "this is Tyler, William, and Gabriel. Your lost cousins." She smiled at the three boys warmly, just like the tall cousin did. The darkness in his eyes was genuinely kind as he looked each of them over. He shook each of their hands and said nothing, letting his mother talk for him. "Boys, this is Axel. He plays for the National American Quidditch team. He's the best beater in the world."

"Not the best," he said quietly

"Your humility makes he sick!" the shorter one said moving up behind them. "He's the best."

"This is Byron," said Daisy cheerfully.

"Sup?" he nodded upward. He shook each of their hands a little too strongly, almost breaking Tyler's fingers. "I'm on the NAQ too. Chaser. Best there is." He smiled widely.

"Do you know how many times this one's saved your ass?" Brian said to Byron, his son.

"Oh please!" he said, "I'm the team's top scorer! Axel's disposable!" He laughed jokingly, punching his taller cousin in the shoulder.

Axel laughed quietly and rolled his eyes in good humor.

"Well everyone is here but the birthday girl!" said Sendak.

"Daisy, could you help me?" Grandma spoke up. She left to help her mother, and slowly the room began to disperse. Iris and Jasmine left to make up the dinning room table. Violet went over to the sink to help Daisy and her mother finish dinner. Grandpa came in and greeted the other men like he hadn't seen them in years. He greeted what grandchildren lingered into the room, and talked about the weather and who played in what quidditch game, and how big everyone was. The three boys sat around the small table watching everyone work, watching their family work.

Something in Gabriel fluttered with happiness. Everything seemed so right, so perfect, like this was what life should be like. He looked over at William and Tyler and they were smiling too, William holding back a laugh of joy.

"Hey," Axel said to them after a while, "you guys wanna help us?" he asked. Gabriel smiled up at him, nodded and shot up out of his seat. Tyler followed him immediately, and William after a moment joined them too.

"Do you play quidditch Gabe? Mind if I call ya Gabe?" Byron asked him.

"Um, sure, and no, I never got to play," he answered rather shyly.

"You should," said Axel, "you've got a chaser's built."

"Strong and quick! Like me!" Byron butted in. Axel rolled his eyes. "Ever even ridden a broom?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, a few times. At my moms," he said shy again.

"I've never even touched a broom!" Tyler complained.

"I did, once," said William.

"MAN! You guys have sad lives!" said Byron a little too loudly. He laughed out loud and said nothing more.

"How long have you been playing?" Tyler asked Axel whom he had caught up to.

"Since I was nine. My first broom was a gift from your mom actually," he said in a strong but graceful voice.

"Really?" Tyler said, is mouth hanging open.

"Yeah," he said laughing gruffly.

The five boys were in the living room now, on the far side of the house, past the entry hall. It was a grand room, carpeted with plastered walls, a high ceiling, and a fireplace at the end of the far wall. Next to that, was a glass wall that looked as if it opened up to another room at the end of the house. There was a grand piano to the boys left and at its legs was a mountain of presents. Byron had sped ahead of them and had his wand out. He muttered something that Gabriel couldn't hear, shot his wand toward the ceiling, and a silver sort of wisp sprang from the end of it. A grey mist manifested from the ceiling, and soon Gabriel could make out a sort of cloudy sky forming in the room. The blue sky misted between them and the ceiling making it disappear almost completely. It looked as if there was no ceiling at all, just the sky right above their heads.

Axel pulled out his wand, waved it senselessly, and a green flame sparked in the fireplace. Byron waved his arm and the doors and windows opened to the outside world, letting a cool noon breeze flow through the house. Axel, focusing hard on the walls, pointed his wand, and out flowed an endless river of green and white streamers. He fluttered his hand gracefully as the ribbons of green and white shot from his wand and toward the walls. They attached in certain places as he walked around the room, crisscrossing them in the middle a few times to create a star of green and white in the middle of the hall.

Byron had lit several candles with a green flame and with a simple levitating charm, placing them around the room randomly.

"Green is her favorite color," Byron said to the trio as they watched, "was my favorite color first."

The three boys watched their elder cousins work to turn the room into a beautiful vision of green. They did the same to the entry hallway and the staircase and the dining room. Their grandma called them over after a while to help to set the table and take out the trash. Gabriel and William talked with Dewy and Sendack about potions and stews that the two men were working on for the party while Tyler followed Axel and Byron around, asking them about quidditch. Then Grandpa and Brian collected all the boys, Axel, Byron, Gabriel, Tyler, William, Vin and Cyris to help him with the pegasus' and the griffins in the barn.

The animals were incredible creatures to behold. Mist, a female pegaus, was a dark horse with a long mane that shimmered gold when the sun hit it just right. She walked right up to Gabriel and nudged him in the chest for him to greet her.

"Hey there!" he said started.

"Oh that's Mist, she's friendly," was all the old man said. Gabriel had never seen a pegasus before, and she was beautiful. Much taller than a regular horse, and much stronger too. She nudged him again and he stroked her face gently. She purred softly and watched him sideways.

"She really likes you," Axel said from behind him.

"Yeah I guess! I've never even seen one before!" he said afraid to turn away from her.

Axel laughed a little, "yeah, they're pretty incredible." He said stroking her neck now.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" one of the griffins screeched making William jump backward. It had orange lion legs and golden wings that seemed sharp enough to cut through a tree.

"Kyle doesn't like strangers," Vin told him. He was a tall, rubbery, and awkward like a middle school boy should be. His chopped brown hair sat like grass on his round head, his face blank and polished.

"His name's Kyle?" Tyler said holding back a laugh. The griffin screeched again, lunging forward slightly.

"Yeah," said Vin.

"And this is Apple," Brian said as a huge brown pegasus trotted up to him. This horse was much taller, and much stronger than Mist. "He's just a baby, only five, but a lot bigger than Mist! Aren't you boy?" he said to the beast. "We have two pegasus and three griffins. The other two birds are Grace and Debbie. Grace is the white one and Debbie is the black one." He gestured to the two other griffins who huddled together in the corner. "They're sisters."

"Why is Apple so much bigger than Mist?" William asked walking up to the horse.

"Well they grow to be huge when they are young. They get bigger and bigger till they hit about fifteen or so, and then they start to shrink. But just a little. Mist is almost twenty."

The two griffins made their way toward Byron who held out some grain in his hand. All three of the birds seemed like kittens compared to the size of the pegasus. Their shifty eyes and furry, long tails whipped about at every person's move, untrusting at everyone.

"C'mon Apple! Lets go!" he led the beast out of the barn and onto the broken blacktop.

"You wana lead Mist out?" Axel asked Gabriel who was still lost in the horse's eyes. They were black eyes just like her coat, but speckled with gold that seemed to light up randomly.

"Sure," he muttered.

"Just start walking out and she'll follow you," he told Gabriel.

"Ok," he hesitated.

"Waitin' on you, Gabe!" Byron shouted from behind the pegasus.

"Ready?" he asked Mist and she huffed a 'yes'. He backed out to the room slowly, and she started trotting faster than he was walking. He pushed his hand and out and she pushed her nose into his palm. Then she ducked under his reach, walked under him, and stuck her neck back up so that his arm rested on her mane. She stopped and looked down at him, huffed and threw her head back and forth, ruffled her silky wings and pounded with her back legs in delight.

"She_ really_ likes you!" Axel laughed. Gabriel starred up into her deep, gold and black eyes and smiled warmly. Together they walked out of the barn and into the driveway. Byron pushed past the two of them once he had room with his black and white bird lions. He shouted something at them that made him sound like a cowboy and the black one spread his wings and took off immediately toward the roof of the castle. The white one spread its wings, pounded at the pavement and shot up into the air after its sister.

Vin and Cyris walked Kyle out then, counted to three, slapped its behind and it took off into the air screeching back at them.

"Here we go Apple!" Brian said to the horse like he was talking to a baby. It ruffled its massive wings and then jerked back up onto its back legs. "You wanna go? You wanna go?" He pestered the beast.

Mist let out a disapproving "burrr".

"Here we go!" Brian shouted now and the horse clattered its hooves on the ground. The man started running and the pegasus took off next to him. They both pounded on the ground until Brian shouted for it to go and slapped it on the behind and it was airborne.

"You ready Mist?" Gabriel he called to her. She trotted in place, her feet anxious to leave the floor. She purred and laughed with her big mouth, the sun coloring her black, velvet skin. "LET'S GO!" he shouted, slapping her back and she shot forward. Her black wings unfolded like water and she beat them down harshly, and in a second, she was soaring high above the castle, just a black spot against the blue sky.

"Why do you let them go?" Tyler asked.

"They need their exercise don't they?" Byron scoffed.


	10. A Birthday

10. A Birthday

The family was loosely assembled in the dinning room where everyone was talking to everyone. Violet was cradling baby Chriss in her arms. Maple had his arms around Jasmine, guiding her around as to not get lost, distracted by nothing. Brian was talking to Sendak about sports and Iris was pouring drinks for her parents. Beeza and Veena were trying to get Cyris and Vin to let them use their wands which had been put away, and Byron was amusing himself with a paper snich he had made.

Byron was asking Tyler about his non-existent car that he would make up when people would ask him about himself, when the house boomed and shook ferociously.

"Cora must have brought them, that crazy monkey," Brian scoffed and all the men laughed.

"Oh they're here!" Grandma shouted looking out the window to the front of the house.

A tall thin man, with large shoulders and a soft face stood with a short woman with strait, golden hair, a baby cuddled in the woman's arms with round cheeks and black locks, and a short, stick of a girl, with long, curling gold hair like her mother's that hung down to her waist, uncut, un touched by human hands. She was wrapped up in a white dress with puffy sleeves and fabric that cut off at her knees and gave her the look of a child.

She had big blue eyes and white skin, perfect and smooth like an angel's face. She smiled sweetly at the house, her arms down at her sides timidly and her white ballerina slippers pointing in. She was a perfect cherub.

"HIIiii!" The woman with gold curls shouted at the family through the window. She bent her knees and waved ferociously, unable to contain her boiling excitement. And everyone in the house let out a soft sigh. The tall man smiled at everyone, rolling his eyes in good humor at his wife. Grandma was already at the door, swinging them both open, her arms open wide in the doorway. "Oh there's the birthday girl!"

"Now, who's that?" Tyler tried to whisper to Axel.

"That's Aster, the youngest of the Laflors, and the only son. That's Cora, his wife, aunt Cora…nobody really likes her."

Gabriel looked around and could see that. The sigh of exaustion from Brian and Sendak, the forced smiles from Jasmin and Violet and Daisy, Iris leaving the room. Maple looking away like he didn't realize anyone was there, and Grandpa…Grandpa was simply blank.

"That's Lyra," Axel continued, "The eldest girl cousin, she's eleven today. And that's little Dewy. He was just born a few months ago. The true last heir of the Laflors."

Gabriel suddenly realized it, every one of the children of Grandpa Laflor was a girl accept for Aster. Iris, Daisy, then his mom Rose, Heather (Tyler's mom), Ginger (Will's mom), then Jasmine, Violet and now Uncle Aster. The other funny thing was how each of the daughters had a first born son, Axel, Byron, Gabriel, Tyler, William, Vin, Cyris, and Aster had Lyra, the first girl and Granddaughter. She was even older than Breanna and Alexus who were still ten, and Beeza and Veena were nine and six.

"You will never guess who's here!" Gabriel heard Grandma say to the couple in the doorway now. There was silence and then he could make out his name and Tyler's and William's as well.

"What?" The man's voice, Aster's voice said flatly.

"Rose's, Heather's and Ginger's kids!" Rose's, Heather's, and Ginger's, kids. The label was so distant, so unfamiliar, like it should be. He didn't like it, but it was true, and would be for now.

"Now, which one's your mother?" Gabriel heard Byron ask William.

"Ginger," he said with a sigh. They were thinking it too. Suddenly, all three of them felt alien, and lost. Rose, Heather and Ginger. Where were they? Why did they send them here? Why now?

A shrill scream broke his train of thought.

"YOU'RE HERE!" The woman Cora was bounding for them. She was a short, stubby, strange sort of woman, truly not a Laflor, not one of the family, an intruder. "You boys! Oh my goodness!" She had reached them and was hugging their stiff bodies, kissing their cheeks and looking them over. "You have grown! Oh so big! So big! SO BIG!" Gabriel felt insulted, just a touch.

"She's never even met them before!" Gabriel overheard Brian complain to Daisy.

"Let her be," she sighed.

"Oh my goodness!" Her laugh, shrill and unnerving, rang through the house like a silver bell, and everyone winced. Gabriel had to force himself to keep smiling. The only thing he liked about all these introductions was that he didn't have to talk. Everyone kept talking to him, telling him how much he's grown and how they last remembered him, asking him about him, not waiting for him to talk. That was till now.

The woman starred at him, smiling wide, her eyes expecting, her mouth silent. She stood back, holding his arms with her huge hands, and waited now. There was a long, awkward, still silence as everyone waited. She kept smiling, shifting her eyes from him to Tyler to William back to him.

…

"Hi?" he stammered. She lowered her head, keeping here eyes on him. Her wiry smile growing.

"Hi," she said deeply, mocking him.

There was another awkward moment till Grandma saved him, "Aster, this is Gabriel, and Tyler, and William. Boys, this is your moms's-s only brother," she said smiling widely at him. The entire room breathed out now. The man was tall, but not taller than Gabriel, strong, but fatherly in his face. His eyes were big and puppy like, his face full of life and joy. The bronze hair on his scalp curled softly and this skin, pale but healthy, glowed faintly and smelled of musk.

"It is so good to finally meet you," he said smiling brightly. Gabriel liked him. "I've heard so much about you three from…well from all your moms, but Rose especially."

"You two were always so close," Grandma told him and he laughed thinking of a distant memory.

"I can see you brought your snack-a-jacket!" Iris' laugh brought everyone else into Gabriel's perspective.

Aster's laughed boomed through the house, giving life to everything and everyone.

"Just for you, Iris! Did you bring the Hoola-swoop?" He said, and Iris and Daisy laughed.

"I forgot my Hoola-swoop!" Iris said playing along.

"You can use Brian's," Daisy said holding back giggles, "He brought his!"

"Oh he did!" Aster said laughing now.

"Yeah so we have an extra!" Daisy burst again and Violet was laughing now. Jasmine was giggling to herself and all the men joined, accept Brian who was shaking his head.

Daisy and Iris were swinging their hips now, laughing hysterically, and Aster was trying to contain himself.

"C'mon Brian," Daisy said to him, "Hoola-SWOOP!" She started laughing again.

"What are they talking about?" William asked Axel.

"Nobody knows," Brian said shaking his head. "They've been doing the same material for years and still nobody gets it."

"You mean you don't get it!" Iris scolded him.

"His swoop don't hoola," Aster said, and the room busted into laughter again.

"Some inside joke they've had for years," Axel said to the boys, "Every time it's something new. I think it's hilarious."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, guys, this is Lyra," Aster turned back to Gabriel, Tyler and William. "Lyra these are your elder cousins. Tyler, William and Gabriel."

"Hi," she started in an Angelic voice, "Nice to meet you."

"I heard it's your birthday today," said Gabriel.

"Yeah," she said blushing.

"Well happy birthday!" he sang and she looked down, smiling widely.

"ELEVEN!" Cora sang in, everyone had forgotten she was there. "The big year! No year is bigger! Not until seventeen but that's years away! ELEVEN!"

"Well," Grandpa started. He had been standing in the back of the room, watching the mayhem at a safe distance. "I think that Dinner is ready! Are we all ready, Joy?"

"I think so," she said, her exhausted face drooping down.

She pulled out her wand from its hiding place in the folds of her blouse, waved it around like she was conducting music and a flurry of sparks sprang from the end of the wood. They flew and floated around the room till they made their way to the long, glass table in the center of the room. No one but Gabriel and William watched as the sparks twirled and grew all at once disappeared just above the glass, and in their place was a grand buffet of every kind of food you can imagine.

Smoked brisket, mashed potatoes with honey sauce, biscuits and fresh gravy, a grand Caesar salad topped with balsamic dressing, sliced honey baked ham and grilled turkey. There was plate after plate of meats and cheeses, jelly and fruit salads, fresh watermelon, sliced peaches, and cut strawberries, everything glistening and calling out to the boys as they searched the food.

"Drinks are in the breakfast room," Grandma told them as she spotted their hungry eyes probing the table. "Boys are always hungry," she told herself.

Gabriel and the other two followed Axel into the next room where a round table sat in the center, covered in every kind of drink one can think up.

He was pouring himself a glass of iced coke when he picked up the shrill chirp of a monkey behind him. He stopped for a moment to listen when there it was again, the chirp of a small monkey talking, calling out to someone. He turned around and on the wall behind him, was the painted body of a monkey in stripped pajamas on the wall. It sat on the branch of some sort of tree, it's tail holding him tightly to the wood as it watched Gabriel motionless. Then it moved. It jumped and screeched again, happy to get Gabriel's attention.

Gabriel jumped back, not expecting the painting to move so, but it did. Just like the dragon, Sally upstairs, the painted monkey moved about, hopping from painted branch to painted branch around the entire room. It climbed over the doorways and around the glass cabinets, trying to find a way closer to the boy, until it came back to the spot on the branch right in front of him.

"That's Stripes," Axel said startling both of them.

"Stripes?" Gabriel repeated.

"Yeah. Years ago someone painted him. Years before Grandpa and Grandma moved in. There's paintings and murals all over the house. Haven't you noticed?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. Kinda. They weren't moving last night though," Gabriel said as the monkey spotted a butterfly and chased it around the walls.

"Yeah there's a lion and a unicorn in the maid's courters past the kitchen, and some ruins in the bathroom," said Axel.

"Ruins?" Gabriel asked, curious.

"Yeah. There are lots of scenes painted. They're all over the second story and in the basement. The grass blows in the wind and there are some field mice and rabbits and things," he said uninterested in his own words.

"I knew pictures could move, but I was kinda surprised when Sally was moving in the glass last night. Thought I was dreaming," Gabriel said pressing on.

"Oh yeah. Whoever painted the walls enchanted them too. They're all over the place," he said leading Gabriel back to the glass table.

"Have lots of people lived here before us? Before them, I mean," he corrected himself.

"If I remember right, Our family has lived here the longest, but not all at one time," Axel said taking a seat and offering the one next to him to Gabriel.

Gabriel took the cushioned chair, looking at the special detail in the carvings in the wood. He looked at each chair and noticed that each one was different. Some metal, some wood, short ones and a few chairs that looked more like thrones. "What do you mean?" he said trying to focus.

"Well the Laflor's actually built this place back in the eighteenth century, but moved out much later, in 1860s. One family lived here for ten or twelve years and sold it to another who lived here for only a few years, when Grandpa's dad, our Great Grandpa, bought it in 1915 I think, when he was just a bachelor. And Grandpa was born in 1923. He's lived here his whole life," said Axel, his plate filled with food when he had finished.

"Woah," William said before Gabriel could. He had taken a seat next to Gabriel and Tyler next to him.

"So this place is kinda old, huh?" Tyler said, his mouth full of food again.

"Kinda," Axel laughed.

"Old as crap!" Byron shouted, him mouth more full than Tyler's.

"Tell me, Bryon," said Axel, annoyance in his voice, "how old is crap?"

"Pretty crappin' old," he said, food already in his mouth.

"So where are your mom's?" Aster asked from across the table.

"At the Capitolium," Tyler said before diving into his brisket again.

"Ohh!" Cora butted in, "What do they do?" she asked, her face just full of excitement, it made Gabriel sick.

"Don't really know," Gabriel told her. His mom's work was always a big secret. She never worked when he was there during the summer, and she would always refuse to talk about it. His aunts were the same way. They never discussed it with their families, and Gabriel and both of the other boys had figured out that it was because their dad's were much to busy to care or ask about it.

Sometime in the first year after the divorce, Gabriel had an epiphany of sorts; Rose, Heather and Ginger had married who they married, because David, Roy and Jonathan were stupid. These guys never asked about their wives' families, or past lives, or jobs. All three men were so similar that Gabriel had even wondered if their marriages were just a cover-up or something, a way to be connected to the real world.

It kind of made any sense. Three witches with secret jobs marry three unsuspecting muggles and raise families. But it also didn't make sense. Why would three witches with secret jobs marry three unsuspecting muggles and raise families? Why would they place themselves in the muggle world? Why get married at all?

After months of headaches, Gabriel's mom put his thoughts to rest…in her own way.

"I married your father because I loved him," she said with a sad tone in her voice, her eyes full of regret. Gabriel didn't buy it.

"You loved him?" he almost shouted the question at her.

"I did!" she said straitening up, "and he loved me! There is no conspiracy here! You're assuming things and it's hurtful, Gabe! Don't talk about this anymore! I keep my job a secret from you to protect you! I keep my job a secret from you dad and the girls to protect them too. Heather keeps here job a secret to protect Roy and Tyler. Same with Ginger," she said trying to calm herself.

"Why do you need to protect me? Why do you need to protect him?" He said almost shouting again.

"Because I love you," she said in a hushed voice. This was the first fight he had ever gotten into with his mom, the first time he had raised his voice, and it felt horrible.

"Well I am head of the Magical Creatures department!" Cora's shrill voice brought Gabriel to the surface and back to the present. "We deal with the protection of both Magical and Muggle peoples alike when it comes to," she thought for a moment, "let's just say magical creatures and leave it at that." Then she busted into a flurry of shrill laughs like she had just said a clever joke. When no one else joined in she quieted down, her bright spirits still high. "Basically we keep magical creatures a secret from muggles and protect wizards and witches from the dangerous ones." She took a rather large helping of jelly pudding then and shoved it into her mouth.

"Mom," little Lyra sparked.

"Yes dear," said the woman.

"Can I get a garden sprite? Just to keep in my room? They're perfectly harmless!" she said quickly.  
>"Oh no dear! They pull your hair out when you sleep and some have even been know to set fire to houses," she said flatly and that was that. The poor girl lowered her gaze to her plate of food and played with her fruit.<p>

The family ate quietly for a moment until Aster said something about Brian's Hoola Swoop and the place was a flurry again. Every one spoke merrily and sang and laughed. Daisy asked William about his plant charms that she had overheard him talking about. He promised to help her with her Flower gnome problem and get her venus fly traps singing again.

Tyler asked Byron about quidditch and he spun a tale about the world cup where he had one particular French beater trying to kill him, but he managed to score 318 points before the other team caught the snich. Thankfully, Byron had just scored another ten points and that was enough to win them the game without the snich. Axel threw in a couple of eye rolls and silent laughs, and later told Gabriel how he had deflected one of the blugers at the other teams beaters early on in the game which gave Byron the ability to score so much. He had also taken out two of the French Chasers as well.

The small children who sat at the end of the table talked rather loudly, ohing and ahing at Lyra's new wand that she had picked up just that morning. Vin was showing her some low level charms that she used to make her food fly across the table and make the drinks change colors.

Gabriel had never felt more at home, for this home was perfect. Everyone happy and loud and smiling. This home was his, and William's and Tyler's all the same, and would be forever. The small stone hidden deep under his cloths that he had forgotten about, hidden away from sight like his mother, glowed a clear shade of blue.

…

Before long, all the jelly was gone, the soda and iced tea drunk, and the ham eaten, and the family shuffled down the hallway a few at a time, into the grand ballroom which was almost entirely decorated in green and white due to Axel and Byron's cleverness. Even Arnold's silver armor was glowing with touches of green, his sword the shade of oak leaves.

"PRESENTS!" Beeza and Veena shouted at the same time. Grandma was passing out slices of pound cake that Iris and Violet had made, and Lyra sat in the middle of the room, surrounded in a wall of presents wrapped in pink and blue and silver and gold and green, lots of green. Her white dress was now green with the help of a coloring charm that Cyris and Vin had used on it, and poor Cora, trying to stay composed, sat beside Aster complaining that she would never get it white again.

"Open ours first," Iris said in a raspy, sultry voice as she slid into a spot next to Tyler who spied nervously at her mini skirt and black tights. "It's the purple one over there."

Lyra put down her bronze wand and waited anxiously as Axel gave her the purple package, and then took a spot next to Gabriel. Lyra pulled at the wrappings, carful not to rip it, but simply undo the impossible taping job. Finally, in her lap, sat a large volume of "Witches Monthly".

"It's got tons of fashion charms and potion recipies," Iris said excited, "You can get your up do looking fabulous darling! Just fabulous!"

Lyra thanked her exitedly and then found a small package next to her, wrapped in the same purple, but with small holes on the side.

"That's from Axel," Iris said with a smile. "My son wanted to get you something of his own. He wasn't excited about sharing a gift of 'Witches Monthly'."

She pulled it open to find a tiny, chirping, green bird with furry wings, a white belly, and a tail that was two times as long as the body, that curled into a swirl at the end. "It's a Persian Humming Hummingbird!" she said with a squeak. Axel said nothing but smiled.

"Oh!" Cora said with a squeak, but not as excited.

"He checked with me before he got it, Cora," Aster told her.

"Oh!" she said with an even higher squeak, still not as excited.

"What's her name?" Lyra asked Axel.

"Well she doesn't have one yet. I think that's up to you," he said. The green bird spread it's furry wings and fluttered into the air, beating them so quickly, they almost disappeared. It chirped and twitched it's head, watching Lyra who put her finger out for her to perch on. She spied the white, boney finger and landed weightlessly.

"Clair," she said. The bird ruffled it's feather, twitching its head back and forth, looking at her in different angles. Lyra smiled and nodded once, "Yes, Clair."

The bird chirped at her new name, and suddenly the green turned to white and its white underside turned green. Everyone gasped at its trick, and she chirped again and turned back to green with a white belly.

"For sure Clair," Lyra laughed.

The tiny bird sat on her shoulder as she patiently worked through the rest of the presents, never ripping the paper, always playing with the tape to unfold the wrappings. Slowly she built a pile of perfectly intact, square papers beside herself with a pile or ribbons next to that. From Violet and Sendak she got a brand new cauldron with green handles, and a thick book of brews, and from Cyris, Beeza, Veena and even Chriss, she got a rather large horned owl with bright green eyes. Cora protested saying that she could use Aster or her owl if she needed to send letters, but Violet insisted. She also got a green cape with studs that changed color in different light.

Daisy and Brian got her a packet of flying puddle peas for her garden that Lyra wanted to plant right away, and a witch's hat that was a tad to big, and a black dress with studs and a pumpkin pin to match. They also got her a record player that she could use to record spells or recipes or to-do lists on the disks and have them be played back to her. Byron made up a homemade card for her that reminded Gabriel of his sister's sad card to him for his birthday. He also got her a pack of Asian viper vine seeds that really didn't interest her.

From Jasmine, Maple, and Vin, she got a 'Famous Wizard and Witches, Wizard Chess Set' that Clair chirped at when the pieces moved on their own, trying to move them back with her small talons. She also opened a rather large Vanity with a mirror that talked to her when she asked it questions about her appearance. She also got a rather large box of exploding chocolates that Axel explained didn't actually explode, but when you ate a piece, it "exploded" with more and more chocolate that you could eat for hours. A rather special treat. Lucky her.

The entire time, Cora spied each package with un-approving eyes, forcing a rather unpleasant smile and saying things like "Oh, how…nice," and "Well that's…quaint." Each time saying something harsh to poor Aster who reassured her that Lyla was old enough for the dress, or smart enough for the potions, or that her arm was not a twig that the owl would break in two.

Finally, she came to a rather oddly shaped package, very long, and rather heavy looking, and a small round package that sat on a strange silver stand that held it in place perfectly.

"Oh wow," said Axel.

"What?" Gabriel followed his gaze.

"I know what that is," said Axel.

"What?" Gabriel tried to whisper.

Axel turned to him, confusion in his face like he thought it strange that Gabriel didn't know what it was too. He opened his mouth to say something, hesitated then whispered, "Well…well it's a broom."

"Is this what I think it is?" Lyla squeaked, her eyes moist and the size of oranges.

"Is that what I think it is?" Cora said harshly under her breath to Aster, everyone had heard her though.

"I don't know," Grandpa said to both of them with that tone that was used to make you think he knew something you didn't.

"A broom?" Gabriel said quiet enough for only Axel to hear.

"Not just a broom," Byron butted in, having to be part of every conversation, feeling left out if he wasn't. "That's a Sammy Splinter!"

"Who?" whispered Gabriel.

"What?" mumbled William.

"Whoah!" cried Tyler.

This time, Lyla hadn't bothered to save the paper. In her lap, surrounded in a graveyard of silver and green wrappings, was a slim, sparkling, quivering, green broom.

It was absolutely beautiful. The hand crafted, hand carved broom stick curved and bowed in such a way that it took the shape of a small seat near the bristles, which were by the way, an eerie shade of green, darker than the wood, but also glistening brighter than the candles.

Lyra ran her hand over the smooth surface of the wood, tracing the carvings that swirled and swam across the grain. Along one side she touched the silver letters that spelled out her name in a beautiful, medieval cursive: Lyra Laflor. On the other side, in the same silver lettering were two words: Sea Foam.

"Sea Foam," Lyra repeated softly. The green bird on her shoulder chirped brightly.

"That's a nice one," Vin said sitting down beside her.

"You wanna race, Lyra? You wanna race?" said Cyris who was jumping up and down.

"That is nice," said Axel.

"It's okay," Byron said unimpressed.

"It's a…Sammy Splinter?" William said, trying hard to not make it sound like a question.

"Sammy Splinter," Axel started, "is the best brooms maker in the west."

"The world really!" Byron corrected.

"She started out making brooms for quidditch specifically," Axel said ignoring him. "She actually was the first to make different brooms for different positions. First, she made a Keeper's broom, made to move quicker and more conformably on the diagonal, up and down, and backwards. They had short bristles to make them come to a quicker stop and the shafts were little shorter in length for maneuverability. They were a huge hit, until coaches started complaining that other teams Keepers were making it absolutely impossible to score, so she developed a Chaser's Broom. These were longer in the shaft, but had a huge bend in them, so the chasers could stand up on their crossbars for a quicker turn around to turn onto defense. They were also much faster with longer bristles.

"Soon, she came out with a Beater's broom. They were also shorter than the chaser broom, but longer than the keeper broom. They weren't as fast as the chaser broom, but faster than the keeper, with just as good maneuverability. The biggest difference was a flattened area in the wood where the beaters would sit and stay on the broom better when it came time to hitting the bludgers." He stopped a second to watch Lyra who had been mounted on her broom, feeling it with her whole body. She ran over to Grandpa and kissed his face several times shouting thank you over and over again. He laughed and hugged her and asked if she liked it and everyone laughed. Then she ran back and remounted it, jumping up and down. Axel laughed at her huge smile and went on.

"Then there came the Seeker's broom. This one had a long shaft with very little curve to it so it would be as fast as possible. It got huge speed and could still stop pretty quick, faster than the Firebolt, and even the Charmer. Soon every team had their players fitted for their proper broom."

"Cool!" Tyler said. He hadn't taken his eyes off the green masterpiece. Beeza and Veena were now sitting on the broom behind Lyra, begging her to take off, but Cora was planted right in front of the broom, holding it to the ground with an iron grip, trying hard to smile and say what a great gift it was.

"So is that a…beater broom?" asked William.

"No no no," Byron shook his head. "That's a mix. A custom broom." He picked at his teeth, still uninterested.

"Custom?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah," Axel smiled, "Now, Sammy makes custom brooms for people who don't play quidditch. They tend to be mixes between two or three of her quidditch brooms. Some of them are one-of-a-kind. Most of them really, which is why they're so expensive. Grandpa knows Sammy personally, so he gets a discount. He helped her get started really. She basically hands them to him for free. We've all gotten one for our eleventh birthday."

"Serious?" Tyler said, his mouth hitting the floor practically.

Gabriel though about his eleventh birthday. All he got was a wand and a ring and some cloths. No broom. He didn't even get a car till he was fourteen and even then he though that was special! Who gets a car at fourteen? Who gets a custom made Sammy Splinter at eleven? This must be special, even in the magical world.

"This looks like a Beater's broom, but without such a flat seat, and a little longer," Byron said with an intelligent tone. Who knew?

"Okay! Okay!" Cora was saying then, trying to laugh but with a touch of malice in her voice. "What's in the last one?" She finally got the broom free of her daughter's grasp and Lyla fell to he ground with Beeza and Veena. Everyone was watching Cora, rolling their eyes.

Gabriel looked at the last package closely now. The stand it sat in was made of silver dragons that twisted and curled around each other in pretty, old shapes. There was an age to the silver stand that made it look quite old, quite special. The ball that sat in the stand, wrapped in the same green paper and silver paper seemed to glow.

"Oh I've had just about as much green as I can take for a year," Iris said rubbing her eyes. Daisy and Brian laughed.

"Yeah I think you missed a spot, Axel," Brian said sarcastically. Gabriel felt his stomach jump at the sound of his father's voice hidden in Brian's. Axel just smiled, not a sliver of hate in his eyes.

"For a beater, it sure takes a lot to get you riled up!" Brian scoffed and Axel's gaze dropped, no one but Gabriel noticed.

"That's from me, honey," Grandma said with a tired huff. Lyra was eyeing the package intensely.

She pulled it, stand and all, up into her lap. "It's heavy," she said in a hushed voice.

"It's very old," Grandma said a little concerned.

Carefully, slowly, the girl pulled on the paper, and effortlessly, it tore away to revile a silver, clear, crystal ball. Lyra gasped, and a soft grin took hold of her face. Her big, blue eyes tore away from the ball and into Grandma's face. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Do you know what that is?" Grandma said, excited.

"It's a crystal ball," Lyra laughed awkwardly.

"It's MY, FIRST, crystal ball," the old woman huffed.

"REALLY?" The little girl shouted.

"Oh mom," Aster gasped.

"Grandma is a famous Seer," Axel told Gabriel.

All three of them remembered what a Seer was; someone who could naturally see the future.

"Oh my goodness," Lyra squeaked.

"I saw you had the gift when you were born, Lyra, and I mean that," Grandma said sternly, afraid her words would be taken lightly.

"Really?" said Lyra.

"I always saw her as a herbologist," Cora butted in, her eyes wide with burning fury.

"Oh no, she's a Seer all right," Grandma said ignoring her anger. "She's got the eyes. And that line on her left had that I showed you, Aster." Lyra gazed long and hard into the crystal ball while everyone listened to Grandma. "I got the feeling when she was born, but it wasn't till she was four months old that I knew for sure. That's when the spirit comes alive. At four months. And then her eyes, they're perfect. Optimistic, open."

"Well I don't know," Cora said sternly, "she's quite clever when it comes to plants."

"Well so am I," Grandma retorted, annoyed.

"I just don't know if that kind of thing is appropriate. I mean it's a sweet gift," started Cora.

"Honey, please," Aster tried to stop her.

"No, let me speak Bunny Bear!" she turned back to the old woman who was in no mood to argue. Not now. "I don't think it's appropriate to give her something like that when she's already got her heart set on herbology. No need filling her head with ideas that she could be something as ridiculous as a Seer." Cora laughed full heartedly.

"She just got her wand today!" Grandma shouted, "whose to say that she's already made up her mind to be anything? It's just a gift, Cora!"

"There's just no need to try and seal her fate," Cora said calmly, her eyes wide and harsh.

"The only person sealing her fate is you! Saying she's going to be a herbologist when she just got her wand today! Poor thing hasn't even started her teachings!" Grandma was exhausted.

Cora just starred at the old woman like she had at Gabriel. Eyes wide and smiling. Her face twisted into a grin that hinted at madness. She sat strait up, proper in a much to do way. There was a long, awkward silence, the room uneasy with the strange woman's presence. It was easy to see why no one liked her at all. Poor Aster, his head in his hands, embarrassed, ashamed, just sat, ready to die. Even Byron felt uncomfortable.

"Well!" Cora broke the frozen air, "you haven't opened our present, Lyla!" she said just a little to perky.

"Our present? Honey?" Aster asked, raising his head.

"Yes our present Bunny Bear!" The fancy weasel of a woman dug through her purse and pulled out a flat, rectangular, wrapped sort of package. "Lyla!" The woman sang.

"What?" The girl sprang to life. She had missed the entire spat from being trapped in the clearness of the crystal ball. Grandma seemed pleased at this for some reason.

Cora handed the strange packet to her daughter who was still trapped in a daze about the ball, and fumbled to open the paper. She shook her head and then tore the paper away, unsuspecting. Everyone watched as Lyra now pulled on the edges of a brown, paper packet that looked much to official for an eleven year old girl. Grandma eyes the packet closely and gasped silently, realizing what it was.

The girl, packet now torn open, pulled out a sheet of paper. Cora squeaked with excitement before the girl had a moment to read it. Her, boney, trembling fingers, whose whiteness matched the paper, creased into the parchment as she began to read it.

"To Miss Lyra Caroline Laflor, Congratulations!

You have been accepted among many able and esteemed applicants, to Cobblecot School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

She stopped there, but the room was already frozen. Aster's mind shut off, Violet pulled at Sendak's arm, Jasmine shot up strait, sitting strait up while Dewy had to catch his breath, Daisy turned away, Brian putting his arm around her, Iris sat dumbfounded, Grandma as star struck as her daughter, and Grandpa as composed as ever. All the grandkids just starred, emotionless.

"Keep reading!" Cora commanded, and poor Lyla jumped out of her trance.

"With exciting roads ahead, twisting and turning, all leading you to different places, the professors of Cobblecot are thrilled to help you along your way to your future," Lyla stammered on. Sendak laughed sarcastically at the words "different places" and Gabriel thought where those roads would be leading; all to one place, the Capitolium.

"With the term already in session, you will be placed in special 'fast track' classes that will move you ahead quicker and catch you up to your peers," the girl kept reading. "Enclosed is a schedule of classes that you will be taking (we don't allow classes to be chosen, they are assigned to each student for each year at Cobblecot in accordance to his/her abilities and potentials). A short list of supplies is also enclosed, along with your rooming assignments.

"We are very excited to see you here ASAP at Cobblecot, and may your future be bright and successful!

Sarah Silesia Stenford, Hedmaster

Sarah Silesia Stenford

"Oh how wonderful! How personal they make that letter!" Cora chirped at the heels of her daughters robotic words. Funny how Gabriel thought the exact opposite.

"You didn't tell me…" Aster started to say.

"Oh shush Bunny Bear! Isn't it wonderful?"

"We didn't talk about this!" He said standing to his feet.

"What's to talk about?" she said with her grin that commanded authority but got none.

"This school, Cora, we need to talk about this school," he said in a calm tone.

"It's a wonderful school! Simply wonderful! I loved it there. Didn't you go there Sendak?"

"Honey!" said Aster.

"I mean it was very hard to get her in," she went on talking to everyone, not hearing her husband.

"Cora," he raised his voice.

"I mean her birthday wasn't till after school, and all their student's MUST be eleven to be enrolled and start classes. They must have a wand you see."

"Cora, please!" he began to shout.

"But I got her IN! Shes just going to start a little late is all. But they'll get you all caught up! YAY!"

"I AM TALKING TO YOU!"

She said nothing, but smiled like she had before, glaring at him with those horrid eyes. "We are going to talk about this…later. Later," she said lowering her head like she had before to Gabriel and to Grandma, with her growing grin, her darkening eyes.

"Am I going to Cobblecot, Daddy?" poor Lyla asked with tears in her eyes.

"We are going to talk about it," He said sternly, answering the question to his wife who just kept smiling. Then she broke her gaze and turned to Axel.

"Didn't you go to Cobblecot?" she squeaked as if nothing happened. It was truly amazing how nothing really broke her giddiness.

"No," he said flatly.

"Not really a surprise," she said insulting him, "a brute like you. But Byron went right? Got an education?"

"Nope," he said slouching backward in the couch, smug.

She hesitated. "Gabriel?"

"Homeschooled," he said just as flatly as Axel.

"William, you must have."

"Sorry, no."

"Tyler?"

"No."

"Vin? Cyris?"

Both boys shook their heads. She moved from face to face, each one as cold as the next, each as emotionless as the next.

"Well," she finally said, "this has been so fun! But I think we should get going. Aster, grab Dewy. Lyra, pick up your things, we are leaving." No one moved.

"No Cora," said Aster.

"What?" she said coldly.

"It is Lyra's birthday, and we are spending it with the family," he said with a smile, his bright personality untouched by her coldness. Gabriel felt himself laugh.

"What?" she said again.

"We are staying! All of us." He took up Lyla in his arms and held her while she blushed, laughing. "Now, let's go try out that new broom."

Everyone was on their feet. Cyris and Vin launched up and headed back into the dining room and into the kitchen. Grandpa picked up the broom and handed it to the laughing birthday girl, and everyone else filed out the grand French doors to the back patio, even Cora came out. Cyris and Vin were already out on the brick pathway with brooms of their own. Vin's was even more curved with a flattened area for a seat, but with shorter bristles that made it look rather quick. Cyris' broom was much more strait but with long bristles and a shorter staff. The front end of the wood was curved downward rather strangely. Both of theirs were different colors than Lyla's but both had the same silver lettering with their names on one side and another word or two on the other.

"Now you know how it works right?" Grandpa said to Lyra as Aster put her down.

"Yeah," she shouted confidently.

"You go first Lyra, so the boys can catch you if you fall!" said Brian. Every one laughed as Lyra glared at him.

She mounted the green broom, looking so perfect in it that it would have made you sigh and smile, and almost whispered the words, "Sea Foam." The green wood sparked to life and everyone gasped in amazement. Then, suddenly looking serious, she tightened her grip on the staff, wiggled her body in anticipation and kicked off the ground.

"She's never even flown before," Aster said in awe as his tiny daughter took to the sky. She was a natural. First she soared fifty or sixty feet into the sky at a strait angle toward the distant mountains, then, just like a pro, pulled upward on the wood, and made a back flip into a diving position and shot down toward the forest below.

Cyris and Vin were already airborne, Gabriel hadn't even seen them take off. Lyra met them in the air and together, the three of them soar through the clouds in a perfect triangle. They twisted and circled, dove and shot up, every movement with such ease, such precision, like magic.

Slowly, Gabriel made out the differences of their techniques and movements. Vin, turned much tighter and quicker than Cyris or Lyra. He didn't reach very high speeds, but he sure could handle every twist and turn Lyra would throw at him. Cyris, however, was a speed demon. He would shoot past the others, moving so fast, you could hardly see him. He almost fell out of the sky twice, but with practiced hands, maneuvered the broom back under him and shot forward like he had planned it. Lyra, taking it much slower than either of them, looked more nervous than excited at times. Three times, she made a complete stop, just to turn all the way around, but then would shoot forward with amazing acceleration. Very soon, she moved just like Cyris, with Vin's confidence.

Just when Cyris began to slow down out of creeping boredom, a huge, black ball, the size of a pumpkin shot strait toward him, and he managed to shoot out of the way before it crashed into his side. With a nervous laugh, he turned toward the house, searching from where the ball had come from, and with a booming laugh, Axel shot into view, wielding a four-foot long bat. He pushed his way past Vin on a short, flattened broom, a perfect Beater's broom, and smacked the incoming bludger with the force of a truck.

"Where's the snitch!" Cyris cried, and right on cue, a golden ball of light, shot past his head. He turned hard and launched toward the speeding, almost invisible, snitch. Now Byron flew in on his true Chaser's broom, quaffle in hand, and soon Brian, Sendak, Aster, Maple and Violet got out their brooms, and even Tyler got to use one of Axel's old brooms. Soon, a mini quidditch game was set over the dead orchard.

The teams were set pretty easy. Vin, Cyris, Byron, Sendak, Maple, and Brian on one team, Lyla, Violet, Aster, a shivering Tyler, and Axel on the other.

Byron took up the role of Chaser with Brian as second, Sendak Beater, Maple Keeper, Vin second Beater, and Cyris called Seeker. On the other team, Tyler agreed to be second Chaser after Aster, Violet volunteered to be Keeper, which her husband laughed at, while Axel would be the only Beater, and Lyra agreed to be Seeker.

Grandpa pitched the quaffle and a quick Brian grabbed it out of the air. A moment later, Axel knocked him off his broom, and Tyler fumbled with the ball. He tossed it to Aster who easily got it past Maple who was protecting a makeshift ring. Brian moved quickly to the ring when Axel knocked him down as well, and this time, Tyler took off toward the rings with the ball. Vin knocked into him, but Aster was just below, grabbed the quaffle, and pushed it through. 20 Axel, 0 Byron. Byron got the quaffle, Sendak blocked an incoming bludger, and made 10 points.

Meanwhile, Cyris had spotted the snitch, but so had Lyra. It was taking them deep through the woods, where Cyris' more practiced abilities moved him through unscathed. Lyra however, shot above the tree line, watching as Cyris' bronze hair sparkled through the trees, dodging the branches. The snitch shot strait up and past Lyra's golden hair, and back toward the field. She came to a stop, turned all the way around and launched toward the gold light. Cyris shot up through the trees and took off toward her, gaining very slowly.

Byron scored 30 more points which put his team in the lead. Brian, had a bloody nose already from one of Axel's bludgers, and Tyler had fallen off twice, thankfully without injury, and was having the time of his life. Violet called for a switch, and gave Tyler a rest, placing him as Keeper now. Aster threw her the quaffle, and they passed it back and forth and Byron and Brian tried to snatch it. Even Byron's professional hands couldn't get a hold of it. 10 more points to Axel's team. 30. 40. Though Byron and Brian were the better Chasers, Axel and Tyler made an amazing defensive team. Tyler decided he liked Keeper much better when he blocked Byron's first weak shot. Byron, much to excited to be shooting on his newbie cousin, lobbed a rather pathetic toss, and Tyler snatched it out of the sky. Axel was knocking the ball out of the two Chasers hands every time the ball got to them, and Violet and Aster made quite good Chasers. There was no stopping them, and soon it was 110 Axel's team, 90 Byron's. But that all changed. Byron pulled out all the stops, and got Tyler distracted while Brian scored 20 more points. Suddenly everything fell apart. Aster got knocked down, his ear bleeding from Sendak's bludger, and Violet down when Byron swiped at her with his broom. 30 more points. Distracted, Axel was overtaken by both Sendak and Vin, who sent both bludgers at him, and Tyler was left defenseless. 30, 40, 50 points scored before Axel could get his team back together. 250 Byron, 180 Axel.

"WE COULD DO THIS ALL DAY, BUT HOW ABOUT THAT SNITCH?" Byron shouted as Vin's blurry image shot through the pitch, Lyra right on his tail.

"YA! ANYTIME YOU WANT! NO HURRY THOUGH!" Brian scoffed and they both laughed.

"IT'S WAY TO FAST!" said Cyris as they passed through the pitch again.

"NO IT'S NOT!" Maple mocked him, "THAT'S A BEGINNERS SNITCH! C'MON!"

"GO LYRA!" shouted Tyler and Violet, and go she went, both of them out of breath.

Lyra shot passed Cyris on a harsh turn, her green dress shining in the afternoon sunlight, and pulled way out in front of him. The snitch began to climb and Lyra flew overtop of it, making an attempt to come down on the small ball. Cyris made a quick move to catch up, but it had already happened. Lyra spun upside down, and all at once, pulled the snitch out of the air, and spun right side up.

"I GOT IT!" She shouted.

Lyra had won! Lyra won for them, and they all knew it. 280 Axel's team, 250 Byron's. That was it. The entire family went ballistic, shouting and screaming. Even Cora screamed in shock for her daughter. Lyla came down to the patio and hugged her mom who was holding back tears, and Aster hugged her from behind. Then her teammates came down and each hugged her, Axel throwing her up into the air like she was a rag doll.

"MORE CAKE! FOR THE BIRTHDAY GIRL AND THE BEST SEEKER IN THE WORLD!" shouted Irs and even Byron, trying to hide his smile that gave him away joined in on the celebration. Grandma got more cake for anyone who wanted it, and everyone sat out on the patio. The adults sat in chairs under funny umbrellas and the smaller ones sat down by the long pool, their feet playing in the cool water, and Axel, Byron, Vin, Cyris, William, Tyler and Gabriel sat on the brick staircase between the two groups.

Gabriel watched as Tyler talked about his firs time ridding a broom, Byron giving him a few tips, William was talking to Vin and Axel about his life in the muggle world, and Cyris sat starring up at Gabriel.

"You're a pretty good seeker," said Gabriel. Cyris snickered sarcastically. "Of course what do I know?" That made the boy smile.

They sat there rather quietly for a while, not needing to say anything. Gabriel liked Cyris, and Cyris decided he liked Gabriel.

"How about some fireworks?" said Grandpa after a while.

"Fireworks! Lets have ourselves a grand spectacle!" said Maple, who hadn't really said anything the whole night.

"Gabriel's awesome at fireworks," said William. Gabriel tried to shake his head.

"You are? We should have a battle. Duel it out," said Maple, excited that someone shared his passion for things that exploded. "See who can impress and who…can not." He gave a wide grin.

"Oh I'm not that good," said Gabriel, a little embarrassed.

"Yeah he is," said Tyler who turned to the rest of the crowed. "You should have seen our fourth of July party. Truly fantastic."

Truly fantastic? Since when did Tyler add that to his vocabulary? Tyler felt himself rather proper, being with right true wizards and all.

"Let's see it then!" Maple clang like a fanfare. Gabriel smiled, happy and hopeful about the attention and ran upstairs to get his wand. When he came back down, the patio was all abuzz. The Family sat in rows of chairs that had been set up, some by the pool and in the lawn and some up against the house. Gabriel walked through the iron gates, down the brick staircase to the pool and up to his cousins who were all circled around Lyla, still celebrating her first quidditch game.

"Ya ready?" asked Tyler, sounding like himself. "Maple looks pretty serious." He said that with a laugh. Maple stood beyond the fence in the middle of the dead orchard, stretching and twisting his entire body, looking much to serious.

"Does he do this professionally or something?" said Gabriel with a laugh.

"No it's just a hobby," said Grandpa from behind him. "But you will do just fine. I'm sure." He smiled at the boy and took a seat next to Axel.

"Let's go Gabriel!" "Yeah Gabriel!" everyone began to shout as he met Maple in the clearing. "KICK HIS SMOKING BUTT GABRIEL!" Jasmine shouted from out of no place.

"Age before beauty, my good man," said Maple to the boy, standing aside. Gabriel took a deep breath, a wide stance, cracked his neck and raised his wand.

And just before the words forming on his lips could escape, and old, raspy voice shouted "EXPELIARMUS!" and Gabriel fell back, wand flying off some place, and spotted Grandpa, standing up, wand in hand, pointed at the boy.


	11. A Plan

11. A Plan

Gabriel stood up and Grandpa was already at his side. "Your ring is gone," the old man said to him, grabbing his arm.

"Y-yes," poor Gabriel stammered, confused, still not fully come to his wits.

"Come with me. It's time we all knew what is going on."

The old man pulled Gabriel up the steps and into the house, and all the adults were at their heels.

"Stay out here, you guys all just stay out here. Axel, please watch the little ones," Daisy was saying, the last one to come inside.

Inside, everyone took their seats at the long table, with Grandpa at one end, and the three boys at the other. The whole sight was rather intimidating. Everyone sitting in their own thrones, glaring down the glass and into the eyes of the boy at the head of the room. They were searching him, watching him, whispering about his naked finger that he rubbed at nervously. The stone on his chest was green with anticipation.

"Alright," the old man said very seriously, that funny personality dried from the apparent crossness of the situation, "you'd better start from the beginning. Everything."

Gabriel thought about that for a moment. Should he leave out his father? Yeah! That wasn't important. Not needed. Right? And that whole thing about the fight. They probably wouldn't approve of those spells. Probably not. Yeah. Just start from dinner. When the ring came off, since that seems to be what all the fuss is about. Right?

"First," William spoke up before Gabriel even opened his mouth, "what's going on?"

"Well you should be telling us," Brian said it with such hostility, Gabriel suddenly didn't feel like talking at all. What crime had he committed?

"What's the deal with the rings?" said Tyler, puffing himself up.

"Please," said Grandpa, "you tell us what happened last night. No one here knows. Knows why you are here. So please."

"You'd better," Tyler turned to Gabriel after a moment. Gabriel stopped, took a breath and began.

"Well, last night was homecoming," Gabriel began, feeling like that night was years ago, "and I took off my ring and gave it to my date, Lane."

"Why did you…" started Brian.

"Brian, please," said Grandpa.

"So at the dance, I did something. Something like clear away the clouds or something. Just to make it nicer out. And then we were attacked."

"By whom?" asked Daisy.

"I think they were Capitolium men," said William. "I recognized the crest from my mother's cloths."

"Capitolium police would never attack children!" Shouted Cora.

"Let them talk," Aster said, stroking her arm.

"So these men attacked. They just came right in and started blowing things up. Didn't care to hide it from the…the muggles or anything. But we managed to get away. We apperated to our little safe house and they found us there."

"We have a rather good protection charm around it, so they couldn't get in though," said William.

"Yeah," he continued, "and that's when I saw my mom's owl with a picture of this place. Tyler said he recognized it, and was able to apperate us here."

"So Tyler brought you here," Grandpa said as soon as Gabriel finished.

"Y-yes."

"And you haven't done any magic since you've been here, right?" Grandpa looked a little spooky just then.

"No. Not at all!" Gabriel felt defensive.

"You're sure!" said Brian, about to stand up.

"Yes I'm sure!"

Then there was silence. Silence for a long time. Everyone looked down accept for the boys who waited for someone to speak. One by one, the adults looked back up and over to Grandpa. Finally, William spoke up. "What's the deal with the rings? We all have one?" No one said anything right away, but all seemed to try and find the words. Cora shrunk in her seat, trying to shrink from the world, ashamed and afraid.

"The rings…are enchanted. As I'm sure you've discovered," begun Grandpa.

"They hide our magic," said William, "don't they?"

"Yes," huffed Grandpa.

"What does that mean?" asked Tyler

Grandpa took a deep breath, searching for the words that would make sense of everything. His mind reached back, far back in time, and he began:

"To put it simply, every spell you have ever casted, every charm, every incantation, every time you use magic, has been a broken law." The man paused to let that sink in. "To legally use magic, it is required that all wizards and witches go to Cobblecot, learn their ways, and graduate from the school." He shot a glance at Cora who was trying to make it look like she wasn't listening.

"The Capitolium made it a law that any wizard or witch who didn't go to Cobblecot, was an outcast to society, and forbidden to use magic. They enforce this law rather…strictly, but our family, and families close to us, have figured out a way to…avoid such restrictions." He looked at each of his children's faces, each solemn and rather guilt stricken.

"What do you mean?" asked Tyler again.

"Back in 1960, a man by the name of Chester Chaste was elected Minister of the Capitolium, and has been President ever since. It was him that created the 'Post Schooling Affairs' Law in 1961. That law declared that any witch or wizard that graduated from Cobblecot was to be immediately placed in a role at the Capitolium. They were forced to start work there, and were put in horrible jobs. He said it was necessary to help with the lack of interest in Capitolium jobs that was effecting the governments abilities to help its citizens.

"Once in the Capitolium, they could only hope to work hard and get a better job later in life, or even work towards retirement."

"It was communism. Is communism," said Sendak. Everyone turned to Cora who said nothing.

"Anyway, parents started pulling their kids out of Cobblecot before they could get sucked into the Capitolium. In January of 1963, Salem School for Witches was closed, and two months later, Lake Eerie School for Boys was closed as well, making Cobblecot the only school in America. Well many people left, until Chaste made that almost impossible, and so many parents just homeschooled their kids. Well in 1964, President Chaste made it a law that all children of magical blood must attend a government recognized school to be a legal wizard. And any witch or wizard born after 1965, would have a trace put on them that would only be lifted once they graduated school, and if they used magic outside of a school setting with a trace on, it was to be considered a felony."

Grandpa took a breath to collect himself and rubbed the back of his hands.

"Those rings," he continued, "are a way of smudging your trace. When you wear it, the Capitolium can only see that magic is being used. They cannot see who is using it, and where it is coming from. When you took your ring off, Gabriel, and used that clearing charm, every spell and every charm and every jinx that you ever conjured was immediately traced back to you, and they were able to find you."

Gabriel looked down at his naked finger, the white skin alien to the tan hand around it.

"But can they trace him right now?" William was the first to speak.

"Only if he was to use magic again. For now you're safe, but only if you don't do anything," said Grandpa solemnly.

To many thoughts and questions ran through Gabriel's mind. But only one escaped his lips. "Why does mom work for the Capitolium?"

No one said anything for a while. Everyone watched him gravely; suddenly afraid of what he might think. Then someone spoke up. Someone no one expected to.

"For the same reason I do," said Cora, "to protect the ones I love."

Everyone looked down accept for William, Tyler, and Gabriel. Cora watched them, her smile gone, her eyes wide and moist, her face genuine. Gabriel hated himself for hating her.

"Your mothers," said Grandpa, "work to protect you, so that you can have your own lives, the freedom you deserve. Freedom doesn't come free, and you mothers are paying the price for yours, for all of ours."

Everyone looked down again, ashamed.

"We are the Capitolium's number one threat. Our family. We are big, and powerful, and until you took your ring off, we had three spies within their lines."

That hit him. Gabriel almost blacked out. She was gone because of him. Because he took it off. Because he abandoned her. His fault for everything.

"So it's my fault then?" said Gabriel quietly.

No one said anything, which made his heart sink.

"Why did you take it off. The ring?" asked Grandma who hadn't said anything.

"I was mad," said Gabriel, realizing he would have to explain it all. "My dad hit me. Again. He threw me on the floor. So I attacked him. And then I sort of ran away. And I took the ring off because I was mad at her. Mad at her for leaving me with him," said Gabriel. He didn't look anyone in the eye, just hung his head, ashamed, betrayed.

"Uncle David was horrible to him," said Tyler, speaking up for his cousin, "He had been horrible for years. Gabriel finally stood up for himself. Finally got rid of him."

"And that, is what makes you brave, Gabriel," said Aster. "Standing up for yourself and your family, even when no one is on your side."

Gabriel felt better, and gave Aster a smile.

"So then," said Grandpa, his voice more business than serious, "you didn't take your ring off last night?"

"No it was about a week or so ago actually," said Gabriel.

"So they waited to try and arrest you then."

"Makes sense," said Sendak, "once he took the ring off, they discovered him and connected him to Rose."  
>"And then seeing Rose had two sisters," continued Maple, "they arrested Ginger and Heather, finding out that they had families as well."<p>

"So they didn't know about the boys at all?" asked Violet.

"No," said Cora, "unless they talked about them to anyone, those rings completely hide their trace."

"That's why we've been living out in Loomis," said William, "Moms been trying to keep us hidden from the Capitolium."

"From us as well," said Grandpa. "Our family has such a bad history with the Capitolium, they wanted to keep you disconnected with us as well, for safe measure."

"That's also why they all married muggles," said Daisy. "So that you could have a foot in the muggle world. No wizard families on your fathers' sides to attract more attention."

"She married that guy to protect me?" asked Gabriel. No one said anything. There was a slow moment.

"That's another story," said Grandma when no one would speak, "but yes. To protect you."

"So now what?" said Tyler before Gabriel had a chance to think about that.

"Now," said Grandpa, "you have to get your ring back, Gabriel. But how is the question. I think it best if you were to leave tonight. What do you think, Brian?"

"Actually," he said with a slight hesitation, starring hard at Gabriel. He turned to Grandpa since he was sitting rather close to him and started whispering something. Iris did the same to Daisy and Aster to Cora. Soon Maple was fixing Jasmine's hair, saying something soothing to her, and Violet huddled into Sendak's shoulder as he put his arm around her shivering body.

Gabriel's eyes wandered to Grandma who was starring at him sideways, almost as if to hide from him. She looked down contemplating something dark and took a deep breath as if to say something.

"Way," she said almost inaudibly, just loud enough for him to hear.

"I don't think so," the old man was saying to Brian.

"That's what I thought, I just didn't…ya know," said Brian.

"Way," she said louder and everyone detected the distress in her voice.

"Yes," he said too loudly and she frowned. Suddenly all eyes were on her and she leaned over and whispered into his ear, ignoring the suspecting glares.

"No," he said without actually saying it, and then he turned back to the boys. "Ok. I know it is Lyla's birthday, but that ring is of the utmost importance right now. Your protection as well as ourselves' is priority. Rose obviously wanted to get the boys here, to us. She knew that we could keep them safe as well as help her and Ginger and Heather. I think it is best if we get your ring back tonight."

"Okay! Let's go!" said William.

"No. Brian, Sendak and Axel will go get it. If the police are still there, I think it best if the men were out instead of you. They will be able to see them coming and get out of there quicker."

"They don't even know where to go," said Gabriel. That took Grandpa back. He hadn't thought of that.

"A memory charm?" said Sendak.

"No!" said Gabriel, standing to his feet. "I want to get it back. I gave it to Lane and I don't think she will like it if a bunch of guys she doesn't know burst into her room and steal it in the middle of the night. I know the area and can get out of there quick. I have to go back," he said.

"Axel and Byron can go with you," said Iris, "Just in case something happens."

"And we'll go too, of course," said William.

"Yeah!" said Tyler.

"That's too risky," said Brian.

"Hey our families are there too," said Tyler, "those Capitolium police probably put two and two together."

"I doubt they will still be there," said Cora. "The attack on your school will call have called for some major Capitolium cover-up work. In and out before something else attracts more attention." The woman looked cold, unattached. The regret in her eyes was the only identifiable emotion. She felt confused, alone. More scared than angry or defensive of her beloved Capitolium. She knew it had been corrupt, destroyed years ago. But attending Cobblecot had distracted her from that. She still loved it, but she loved her family more.

"Let the boys go," said Grandma suddenly. "They can check on their families, even get some of their things. They will be fine. There's no danger there anymore."

"Go get Axel and Byron, they should know what's going on. You boys get ready and we will see you off."


End file.
